Wanderlust
by DandelionXF
Summary: It was meant to be a vacation for just the two of them. But twin sisters, Garnet and Jetta deBarose are going to have a lot more on their hands when their vacation for two turns into an adventure for seventeen. ThorinxOC. FilixOCxKili
1. Chapter 1

_13th August 2013_ - So it's been a very long time since I've written any fanfiction and an even LONGER time since I've attempted to write an OC, mostly on my part for them always turning out to be terrible, terrible MarySues'. So please, be gentle.

Standard disclaimers stand in place. I pretty much don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

She never really screamed before. Not when she fell from the tree house and her leg snapped with a sickly crunch, not when the tide knocked her clean off her feet and the undertow began to drag her out to the sea and not when the loud bang of thunder clapped through the sky as they walked home school in the pouring rain as children. Screaming was Jetta's job.

It was Jetta who screamed when Garnet fell twelve feet to the ground below. Jetta who screamed as she saw her twin vanish in the water. Jetta who screamed when the thunder boomed in the sky and grabbed her sister's hand in a death grip.

But when Garnet suddenly found herself face to face with the most ghastly creature she could have ever thought possible to live,_ orc_, her mind hissed, she couldn't stop the vicious scream as it tore itself free from her throat.

Instinct tightened it's grip on her torso and all the muscles in her body tensed as she felt herself spring into action. The orc clambered towards her with an aggressive assault as it raised it's arm and poised to attack. Garnet couldn't stop the analytical side of her as it took notice of how the blade gripped in the orc's hand was very angled and rough and she was reminded of the old decaying machete that Garnet and Jetta's father kept in the old wooden shed; having kept it from his more glorious adventurous days, he said. But that thought was brushed quickly aside and was replaced by another thought of how the orc's weapon made her think that the blade itself had never been properly cared for a day in it's miserable life. Not that she was any weapons expert herself, but Dwalin had made it a point of utmost importance that the twins knew how to care for their arsenal; a warrior is only as good as his worst kept weapon.

Before the thought could take up any more roots in the back of her mind and spread like wildfire, like what usually happened, she side-stepped to her right, taking a step forward as the orc's blade swished past her left shoulder with the metal snagging bits of fabric on her coat before cutting it off roughly. _Poorly kept, but effective_, flashed through her mind.

Knowing and yet now knowing that her own strength would not be enough on it's own, she dug deep. Releasing a war cry that Garnet had always made fun of movie stars for making, she felt herself going into the movement before her mind could even comprehend what she was really doing. Raising Thorin's axe in her left hand, she brought the weapon down in a powerful arc, letting the axe's blade embed itself in the back of the orc's neck just where the spine would connect with the skull. The orc let out a strangled cry as black blood gurgled out of it's mouth and burst from the now wound on the back of it's neck effectively splattering all over the side of Garnet's face. She began to panic when she realized that even with the fatal blow that she brought to the back of the orc's neck, it still wasn't enough to end the creature's life; it would seem that it would take more than just one fatal strike to take down this monster than Garnet had originally thought as the orc still moved about savagely.

So when the orc began to thrash wildly even with the axe still lodged in it's neck, Garnet knew that she was going to have to do something more the end it's life or it would end up taking her own instead. Fear and adrenaline kept her hand from loosening on the axe's handle as the orc began to move about with a sort of vigor that she couldn't understand and Garnet struggled to grip the dagger that was secured to the right side of her waist. Finally grasping the solid jeweled hilt in her hand, _also Thorin's_, she caught an opening in the orc's movements. Quickly re-grasping the hold on the axe at a more secure angle, Garnet took a step so she was directly facing the back of the orc. With the axe blade lodged in the neck, she used this to hold the creature as steady as she could before thrusting the dagger forward and through where she suspected the heart to be.

The strike was clean and true and Garnet saw all of the orc's movements halt instantly before falling slack. The body began to slide forward, and for a fear stricken moment, she thought that the orc still wasn't dead. But that was before she could see the trickle of blood streaming down from the fresh wound. Holding her breath from the sudden onslaught of smells that came from the carcass, Garnet braced herself as she tore the dagger from the greying flesh that surrounded it and then placed a foot on the middle of the orc's back. With a great yank, she pulled the axe free from it's own entrapment, and the proceeded to fall backwards on her own behind as she watched the body fall face forward just as she too fell to the ground.

Garnet sat there for a moment in a stunned silence as her gaze became suddenly glued to the dead orc. Her breathing was heavy and she found herself running her fingers through the wet grass, with her weapons laying just beyond her reach. She took a few seconds to relish in the sense of freshness that the wet grass gave as it briefly took her mind off of what she had just done even though it was lying blankly in front of her.

"Garnet..."

The only reason she tore her gaze away from the body before her was because her own name being called. The to her left, the company of dwaves, one aged wizard, one small hobbit and one human girl began to emerge from the brush one by one; weapons raised and ready to attack if need be it. She took notice that Thorin was at the lead of the group, _of course_, her mind snapped as her anger reared it's ugly head. But that quickly faded away however when her twin raced to the front of the group but was halted as she tried to pass by on Thorin's right side and said owner's hand shot out to halt her movement. To worsen the matter even more, Fili's own hand shot out and grabbed above the elbow on Jetta's right arm completely stopping her sister's trek. _They must think that I'm no better than this orc_, Garnet thought sadly.

Jetta herself saw the look on her twin's features; wet, cold, confused and hurt. Not caring about anyone at that moment beside her sister, Jetta quickly shook off Fili's arm and brushed aside Thorin's before rushing to Garnet's side down on the ground before throwing her arm around her twin's neck. Jetta was squeezing her with all her might and for a moment, Garnet was frozen. She stared back at the others and was met with mixed expressions; approval, worry, uncertainty but was before she locked gazes with Thorin. The dwarf prince held a look beneath his stone blue eyes that she couldn't quite place and Garnet couldn't help but being suddenly annoyed by that. Being someone that prides herself in being able to read people's character and thoughts quite easily, she felt perplexed and irritated that she couldn't pin down what she saw in his eyes.

Finally noticing that Jetta was crying a storm to match the one they had just passed through and was releasing a flood of words that she could only partially catch, Garnet closed her eyes. Bringing her arms up arms up she slowly hugged Jetta back with equal strength before letting her head fall to her sister's shoulder. It was then that she noticed that the water from the wet grass was seeping into her jeans and Garnet couldn't help but noticed the similarities as the realty of what was happening to her and her sister began to seep into her mind.

* * *

So there you have it. My opening chapter. A tid bit on the short side but I can almost promise that the chapters will be longer from here on. Case in point, I write a rough draft of my stories before I even type them up and chapter two is six and a half pages longer than this one.

My goodness.

Anyways, like I said, please be gentle.

**_DandelionXF_**


	2. Chapter 2

_15th August 2013_ - And here's the next chapter. I've had it written out probably three days ago and typed it up probably two days ago, though it's been a bit annoying because I've been constantly making revisions to this chapter... Hm. Oh well.

Same as before, I don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

"Come on Garnet, our flight is going to leave without us!" a twenty-four year old Jetta yelled back behind her to her trailing sister.

"I'm coming!"

Summer.

It was finally the time of year that Jetta always looked forward to; Garnet and her's annual trip. Ever since the twins entered college at the tender young age of eighteen, the duo had decided that they wanted to shed their image of being connected at the hip as they were throughout all of their childhood and most of their high school lives. Following this, they each went to separate schools were they could identify themselves as Jetta and Garnet, not just the deBarose twins. And even though the separation was lovely and brought a since of freedom to both girls, they vowed every summer to take a vacation with each other.

As it was, even though they were twins, they looked nothing alike. Jetta had to admit, being fraternal had it plus side and it's down. She smiled to herself and she pushed her way through the busy terminal for her sister and herself. Growing up with essentially another half made Jetta realize that if she couldn't experience something for herself, and she would trust her sister's opinion no matter what. There were drawbacks as well. When they were younger, Jetta had wished on more than one occasion that they actually were identical. Seeing as she was more of the outspoken, troublemaker of the two, having someone who looked exactly like you to place the blame on would have been nice on several occasions.

"What are you smiling at weirdo?" Garnet asked catching up with her sister and bumping her hip against hers.

"Nothing really," Jetta said tucking a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "Just remembering some stuff from when we were younger."

"Oh yeah?" Garnet asked as they came to a stop at the end of the check-in line. "Man I can't wait until we get there!" she said as she grabbed the maroon fedora off her head and began to fan herself.

"I second that." Jetta shrugged the lining of her own coat and realized that they were on the receiving end of many odd stares. _Only natural_.

It being the beginning of summer everyone at the airport was dressed in a much lighter and heat friendly attire. Whereas the twins were both decked out in heavy coats, boots, scarves and gloves, Jetta knew they looked ready for a winter wonderland.

As they were called up next to check-in, Jetta let Garnet take the lead and allowed both of their suitcases and both of their carry-ons, matching messenger bags, be checked in. Jetta stepped back to the Garnet do all the talking and took a moment to admire the wardrobe that she was dressed in. Though Garnet would normally not allow it, she let Jetta dress her for the their trip seeing as it was her turn to pick where they got to go.

She adorned her sister in a comfortable pair of dark blue skinny jeans and then made her slip on a pair of beige colored wool socks that were pulled up just below her knees. A pair of brown waterproof riding boots came just below those, and Jetta let Garnet wear her favorite plain black sweater which was under a plaid colored shirt that Jetta thought, curiously went together well despite the obvious color clash. Over that she had on a long light-grey tweed coat followed by another grey scarf that even as it wrapped once around her neck, it still was long enough to reach her thighs. A pair of matching maroon finger gloves that were decorated with light blue dots played nicely off of the fedora that sat on the mop of Garnet's own ash grey hair.

The check-in process was finally over and Garnet turned around and linked her arm through Jetta's before handing her the strap to her bag and her own boarding pass. "So it looks like we actually have an hour to kill before they start boarding our row for the flight. What now?" she asked as she adjusted her own strap on her shoulder.

"I'm going to run to the restroom and then I'll go and grab us something to eat if you wanna save us some seats in the waiting area?" Jetta said as she looked towards the food court.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Garnet said as she pulled her headphones out of her pocket and plugged them into her phone before walking away.

Jetta rolled her eyes playfully and shoved her sister lightly, who didn't even respond, already used to Jetta's playful ways.

A few minutes later found Jetta washing her hands before checking up on her own appearance. Also wearing a pair of skinny jeans like her sister, though Jetta's were black and made out of some smooth material that she didn't care to remember what it was called. She had on a pair of black and light brown combat boots that were waterproof as well. Jetta wore her favorite olive colored short coat that was complimented by a rather large black scarf and matching gloves. Not bothering with a hat like she had with Garnet, she decided to throw her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head and pair of stylish sunglasses._ Like a movie star_, she thought as she pointed a finger at the mirror and fired off a fake shot.

Walking out of the restroom and not paying any attention like her typical self, Jetta bumped right into an older gentlemen, making several of his and her items spill to the ground.

"I am so sorry!" Jetta exclaimed as she quickly bent over and helped the old man with his belongings.

"Not at all my dear," he said in a wonderful British accent. "I was so engrossed in my book, I wasn't watching my step." he motioned to the Kindel that he picked up off the ground before flashing her a kind smile.

"Ah, um, oh thank you!" she said as they both gathered the last of their items. "Well I must say, sir, that you look just as properly dressed as my sister and myself do. Where are you going, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, that's quite alright my dear. I'm heading off to New Zealand. I have some, ah, friends down their that are in need of my assistance."

"Really? My sister and I are traveling to New Zealand also!" Jetta said smiling brightly as the two of them began to head towards the same boarding gate.

"Well let me be the proper gentlemen and escort you." he said, holding out his arm to take.

"I would like that very much. I'm Jetta by the way. Jetta deBarose." _Way to tell a random stranger you name Jetta, smooth, _crossed her mind sarcastically. "And I didn't catch your name...?"

"My apologies! My name is Gan...Gregory Grey." he said smiling brightly.

"Well Mr. Grey, it's a please to meet you." she said, though she didn't miss the way he stumbled over his own name.

"The pleasure's all mine my dear. May I ask what your sister and doing in New Zealand?"

"A mix between pleasure and vacation." she explained. "Our parents are map makers and they travel the world updating atlas' as they go. They're currently in New Zealand and Garnet and I are going to stop to visit with them."

"And have you been there before? To New Zealand."

"Yes, actually. Our parents fell in love with the beautiful landscapes of the country and took up a residence there when Garnet and I were still children. Most of their time is spent there and I don't mean to boast, but, Garnet and I could lead anyone through that country like it was the back of our hands." Jetta explained. "But when won't be staying to visit long because Garnet and I are going to go off on our own shortly after that."

"Off on your own? Whatever do you mean?"

"Garnet and I are a bit of explores ourselves. That side of our parents rubbed off on us and now both of us are going to school with the hopes of becoming professional writers for travel guides." she laughed slightly, "There's been a time or two that Garnet and I have found ourselves in a bit of an adventure."

"An adventure you say...?" Gregory said with a bit of curiosity.

"Yes, and speak of the devil, there's my dear twin right there." Jetta said pointing at the woman that was nodding along with the music that was blaring in her headphones. "Garnet!" Jetta snapped, kicking her sister's boot and finally catching her attention.

"Wha-oh. Hello there." Garnet caught herself and she yanked one of her headphones out of her ear and sat up a bit straighter.

"Garnet, I'd like you to meet Mr. Gregory Grey. He's traveling to New Zealand on the same flight as us." Jetta explained.

"It's nice to meet you sir." Garnet said shaking his outstretched hand, though Jetta saw that her sister held a look in her eye that said she was seeing something more in Mr. Grey then she was letting on.

"As well to you Miss deBarose."

Just then, the intercom announced that they were beginning to board the girls' row for the the flight and Jetta looked over at Garnet and watched as her sister began to gather her belongings.

"That would be us." Garnet commented standing up and placing her bag on her shoulder. "It was a real pleasure meeting you Mr. Grey." she said shaking his hand again with a bit of a tight smile on her face.

"It was indeed my dear. It would certainly be a pleasure if we were to ever cross paths again, I should think." he said with a slight twinkle in his eye.

"Bye, bye, Mr. Grey!" Jetta said again as she linked her arm once more with Garnet's as the walked towards the gate, and handing the stewardess their tickets.

"He was such a lovely old man!" Jetta squealed quietly as she turned over her ticket and waited for Garnet to do the same.

"He was a very nice old man, wasn't he?" Garnet said as she handed her ticket over. "Though there was something about it him..." she said more to herself as she looked back over her shoulder to where Mr. Grey was still sitting, waiting for his own row to be called to be boarded.

Now fully booked into their flight, the twins began to walk down the hallway that lead to where the plane. Though just as they passed from the hallway onto the plane directly, a shiver passed all the way from the tops of their heads to the bottom of their toes.

"Woah, that was totally weird." Jetta said shaking her shoulders as the after effects of the shiver ran through her.

"Have a really good shiver just then?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same. Weird, right?"

"Weird." they said in unison, before laughing it off as another 'twin moment' that tended to happen to them frequently.

"How long was this flight again?" Garnet asked as she began searching for their seats after the boarded the plane.

"Seventeen hours." Jetta groaned. "Wait, here we are. Do you want the window or the aisle seat?" Jetta asked.

"I'll take the window if you don't mind."

"Fine." Jetta said. "But I get it on the way home."

"Sure, sure." Garnet said handing her bag to Jetta to put it in the overhead compartment along with her own. "Wake me when we get there, yeah?"

"Yeah, because a shaky ass plane won't wake you up." Jetta teased and looked over just in time to see Gregory enter the plane and waved eagerly at the older man, whom waved back.

"You know, you never did bring us anything to eat. What happened?" Garnet asked with an eye cracked towards Jetta.

"I bumped into Mr. Grey and I guess it just slipped my mind."

Garnet followed her twin's gaze to where Mr. Grey was sitting. "I got a weird feeling from him, despite him being an adorable old man."

"Is you twin sense tingling again?" Jetta teased with raised brows.

A scarlet blush flared across Garnet's cheeks and Jetta got a sense of how it met her name so well. "Shut up." Garnet grumbled and proceeded to close her eyes.

Jetta chuckled to herself before she closed her own eyes and followed her twin's example to get some shut eye.

* * *

Jetta woke up to what she assumed was hours later to the feeling of Garnet shaking her arm furiously. "Jetta, wake up. Wake up damnit!" Garnet hissed in her sister's ear.

"What?" she snarled shaking Garnet's arm away as she tried to adjust her eyes to the low light as she looked over at her sister.

Jetta glared over at Garnet and saw her sister motion to the stewardesses with a nod of her head. "Somethings wrong."

Jetta looked over to where Garnet's gazed was locked and saw two of the stewardesses were speaking with each other frantically before each going to the stewardess' serving station to fasten themselves into the flight seats. It was then that Jetta noticed the savage storm roaring just outside the plane window. Her stomach lurched suddenly when the plane made a sudden drop in altitude. Beside her, Garnet inhaled sharply and latched onto the armrest between them. The captain's voice came over the intercom suddenly telling the passengers that they were going through some unexpected turbulence.

"Jetta!" Garnet said as her sister stood up suddenly despite the 'Fasten Seat Belt' sign flashing to life and the shaking in the plane began to worsen.

Jetta ignored her sister even as the plane made another vicious lurch and reached upward. With shaking hands, she struggled to open the overhead compartment before finally opening the latch and yanking Garnet and her bags down. She threw Garnet's bag to her and hastily threw her own over her shoulder and fastened her seat belt as Garnet followed suit.

Other passengers were beginning to panic now, and Jetta reached over and grabbed Garnet's hand. Though she could tell that her sister was just as frightened as she was, she held a calm and level head about her that Jetta had always admired. Garnet reached over and put her hand on Jetta's cheek, while Jetta herself mirrored the tears that began to swell up in her twin's eyes as the lights inside the plane began to dim and flash on and off. Jetta scrunched her eyes shut as the tears fell down her face and she turned away, not wanting to remember her last moments with her twin like this as the plane began to shake so violently that she feared it would fall apart.

And then a calm washed over her and suddenly nothing else mattered but her and Garnet. With sudden heavy lidded eyes she looked over at Garnet to see that she held the same glazed over look as she did. As chaos began to reign all around them, Jetta's head lulled back over to her left and then she was looking back at Gergory. _Too still. Too calm_, her mind slurred. It was almost as if he heard her thought, because he calmly turned around and looked at her then and smiled. Jetta concentrated on that kind old face and held Garnet's hand as all around them the plane tore apart.

* * *

And there you go, chapter dos. Too much revising on this one. If I didn't stop myself, I probably would have worked on this chapter for a few more days, no doubt about it. But I'm quite glad to have this chapter done and over with. So, on to the next~!

_**DandelionXF**_


	3. Chapter 3

_19 August 2013_ - Here's chapter three. FINALLY. Ugh, this chapter. Just ugh. And a heads up, there is a bit of cursing in this chapter. So you've all been fairly warned.

Same as always. Don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

If someone would have told her that she would be spending her evening tumbling through the night sky at terminal velocity, she would have laughed. Laughed so hard, she imagined, that tears would be would be gathering in her eyes and she would have a terrible stitch in her side a tell tale sign of too much laughter and her breaths would be making it hard to breath because believe it or not, there is such thing as death by laughter.

Garnet wondered if it was just bad Karma coming back to bite her in the ass then. Now granted, she knew that Jetta and herself have had a few close calls in the past; a rock slide here and avalanche there, but this? This was a bit extreme.

It was a strange almost alien sensation falling through the sky at such an intense speed. For one, Garnet felt warm on the inside and freezing cold on the outside,_ like a microwave_. The wind was whipping past her and making her body toss and turn awkwardly. And Garnet wasn't able to gather her too much barrings and could hardly tell the ground from the sky when she briefly caught sight of Jetta falling right beside her.

"Jetta!" she screamed, though her voice was lost in the wind.

While tumbling, Garnet saw Jetta's panic stricken face and saw her attempt to reach over to her, but Jetta too was caught by then wind and twisted around. The image of her sister was quickly replaced with what Garnet could gather was a lake. The dark blue water was perfectly still as they plummeted downwards and she briefly saw the reflection of a full moon just before they hit the water with a sickening slap.

Garnet found herself suddenly encompassed with the overwhelming sensation of freezing waters. Even though she had only been under water for a few moments, pins and needles were already beginning to prickle on her fingers and toes and Garnet wouldn't be surprised if her body was already entering stage one of hypothermia. She briskly pushed the thought aside and attempted to look around but her view was obscured by thousands upon thousands of tiny bubbles. Glancing upwards, she again saw the moon's shimmering image and made a beeline for it as she could feel the coldness of the water sapping her strength.

Breaking the surface, Garnet took the biggest breath of air her lungs would allow. Water fell from her hairline and she could only keep one eye cracked open as she begun to desperately swim in circles, looking around for any sign of her twin.

"Jetta!" she called out but no one answered. "Jetta!"

"I'm here..."

Garnet whipped her head around when she heard the weak call. Relief flared in her and she found a new sense of strength as she wildly swam towards her sister's bobbing head. "Are you alright?" she asked grabbing on to Jetta's soaking coat.

"Yeah, just give me a moment." Jetta said grabbing onto Garnet's shoulders and Garnet herself could tell that her sister was having trouble treading the waters. "I just hit the water really, really hard." she explained out of breath.

"Come on," Garnet began as she looked around at their surroundings. "We have to get out of this water before we freeze to death."

A sense of urgency grew in her mind, and Garnet twisted around when she heard a voice call out to them from the shore behind her. "Over here!" she heard the voice call.

From the distance and the shadow of the night, Garnet could see the silhouettes of several people standing on the shore; some were even holding lanterns that cast out a ghosting light across the lake, though it was not nearly enough to reach them.

"Can you swim?" she asked turning back to Jetta. Her sister's eyes were closed and she looked faint and Garnet saw her lips beginning to go blue. "Here," she said turning around, "grab on to my shoulders."

She felt a light grip being placed on her shoulders before Garnet began the slow and steady pace towards the people waiting for them on the shore. The distance seemed miles away and the cold water was making her entire body ache in a dull throb. But she was closing the distance between them when Garnet felt Jetta's grip leave her shoulders. She quickly spun around and latched her hand on to Jetta's coat collar and pulled her up before her twin's head went fully underwater.

Garnet began paddle with one hand and pull Jetta along with her as she swam closer and closer to the shore. Just as her feet began to reach the bottom of the lake and sink into the dark mud below, several of the people on the shore rushed into the freezing waters to help the twin's onto dry land.

The cold was beginning to take hold of her and with wary eyes and a heavy head, Garnet heard a bold and strong voice calling out orders, before a set of arms encircled her shoulders and began to drag her towards a warm and solid chest. She glanced up at the person helping her, and she was rewarded with a pair of stone blue eyes barring down into hers. Dully, she noted that someone was gently prying her grip free from Jetta's coat, but Garnet couldn't tear stop staring at those blue eyes. It was only when the fabric from Jetta's coat completely left her fingers when she felt everything else around her slip away.

* * *

Thorin and the others had just finished listening to Gandalf explaining that he was waiting for two other people to arrive that he wanted to join them on their quest. Though it was never brought up to Thorin before, he didn't get the chance to question the wizard as the hobbit hole was suddenly filled with a blinding white flash before it vanished quickly.

"Ah, that would be them." Gandalf said and he stood up and began to walk towards the front door. "Well are you all coming or not?"

The dwarves plus one hobbit rushed to their feet and followed Gandalf outside and were just in time to see two figures falling through the sky straight towards the lake that sat in front of Bilbo's home. Thorin thought he heard one of the figures scream to the other and was surprised that it was a female voice that he heard before both people fell into the lake with a giant splash.

A few moments passed and then one head emerged from the water and began calling out to what Thorin assumed was the other. "Jetta! Jetta!"

Not long after the second head appeared and Thorin kept his eyes glued to the figures before Gandalf called their attention to them all.

He watched as the person that first appeared took the lead and was dragging the second person along with her. They were growing closer to where they waited, when the second person let go of the first completely and would have gone under the water but the first person turned around with lightning speed and grabbed her clothing and hauled her up out of the water before paddling both of them closer to where they were.

They feet away from the shore and Thorin could tell that she was losing her strength. "Fili, Kili!" He called his nephews' names and the three of them rushed into the waters to help the ailing women. Thorin quickly grabbed onto the woman that was pulling both of them along and saw that Kili had successfully pried her death grip off of the other woman's clothes and they began pulling the unconscious woman out of the water.

Thorin glanced down then and watched as the woman nestled in his arms slowly lost consciousness herself. She was freezing cold and Thorin was beginning to realize that the water from her strange attire was beginning to seep into his own tunic and he couldn't stop himself from hissing slightly as the water slightly brushed his skin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fili and Kili helping the other woman out of the water, the woman being unconsciousness already.

"Dwalin," he said catching the tall dwarf's attention, "over here." he barked and held still as the other dwarf rushed over and grabbed the woman's other arm and the two followed Fili and Kil, whom were already rushing there charge inside Bilbo's hobbit hole.

Once inside, they followed Bilbo as he, along with Ori, Nori, and Bifur all whom have shoved two cushioned chairs in front of the blazing fire. Thorin saw that his nephews had already deposited the blonde woman to the left so Dwalin and himself set the woman they were helping to the right.

"Stand aside!" Gandalf quickly brushed the dwarves aside and brought himself down onto one knee before the women and raised one hand while the other was latched tightly onto his staff. He began chanting a strange language to himself and Thorin had the feeling that it was an ancient language that was probably no longer spoken in normal verse here in Middle-Earth.

But he watched, along with the others, as the eyes on the blonde began to slowly flutter open. "Wha-what?" she struggled with her words.

"It's quite alright, my dear." Gandalf said patting her hand lightly. "You're safe now and you'll be back to your full strength here in a few moments." he explained standing up as tall as the cozy hobbit hole would allow.

"Where am I? What happened?" Jetta mumbled and brought up a hand to rub her tired face before glancing over to see Garnet still out cold beside her. "Garnet! Is she alright...?" her voice died off as she looked up at Gandalf directly. "Mr. Grey? What are you doing here?" she asked blue eyes blank with worry and wonder. "Oh man," she said with a hint of realization in her voice, "I'm dead aren't I? This is, this... this sucks." she said exasperated.

Jetta was answered with Gandalf's warm booming laughter. "No my dear, you are still very much alive."

"But, but what about Garnet?" she asked pointing to her sister whom was still asleep.

"Oh," Gandalf began and looked over at Garnet and seemed almost surprised that she still wasn't awake. "She'll wake up shortly, I assure you. The spell I used will just take a bit longer to awake her, I'm afraid, as more of her energy was spent."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after you and your sister fell into the lake, it would seem that the cold water was too much for you and you passed-out." Gandalf explained. "Your sister grabbed onto you and swam both of you to shore, which is quite a feat, I'm sure. But she made it and Thorin and the others helped you both out of the waters and here we are now." he said smiling softly.

"Ah, um thank you." she said to Gandalf, "All of you." she said looking over her shoulder at all the dwarves standing around them. "I, I mean we," Jetta said gesturing to Garnet and herself, "appreciate it greatly."

"You're very welcome."

"Ok then," Jetta began as she sat up straighter and scooted to the end of her seat, "how bout someone explain to me what the fuck is going on, because last time I checked I was on a plane exploding in air and now I'm here." her voice holding a sort of dryness to it.

However before Gandalf had a chance to explain himself, everyone turned their attention over to Garnet and watched as she began to groan and move slightly before her eyes drifted open. "The fuck...?" she mumbled to herself.

Maybe it was the late hour of the night or maybe it was the fire playing tricks on his eyes, though he wouldn't put it past Gandalf either, but when Thorin first saw those green eyes, _like the green that surrounds this place_, something in him shifted and moved. The second time around was no different. Something inside that he had buried long ago when his dear sister Dis passed away, slowly began to burn again. He watched as those eyes traveled around the room and took each and everyone of them in; calculating and remembering. From Gandalf to Bilbo to the dwarves around them and then to her sister before they landed on him.

Thorin berated himself when he felt his breath hitch as Garnet's eyes bore into his. They continued to stare at each other and Thorin was beginning to feel the heated stared of every other person in room and hated how his pulse quickened when she tore her gaze away and placed it back on her sister instead.

"What is going on here?" she asked quietly while sitting up straighter. "How did my clothes get dry so quick, because I distinctly remember swimming in a lake a few minutes ago."

"That is a long story that I don't think you're quite prepared for." Gandalf began, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "But first, let us get some food in you stomachs to warm you up a bit more. Both of you did just almost freeze to death."

"No."

Jetta along with everyone else in the room for that matter, looked to Garnet and watched as she rose from her chair and pinned her gaze on Gandalf with a heated stare.

Jetta too, looked confused for she was half risen from her seat, ready and eager to fill her stomach. "Garnet?"

"Go ahead Jetta," Garnet said not moving her stare from Gandalf's, "I want to here what... Mr. Grey has to say." she said narrowing her eyes at Gandalf.

Thorin flicked his gaze over to Balin, and the older dwarf caught the slight nod of head the dwarf prince gave him and ushered to Jetta's side. "This way, lass," he said grabbing Jetta's hand and pulled her up and towards the kitchen, "I'm sure we can scrounge up something for the two of you to eat. Let's go lads, we'll all help the young lass."

"Jetta." she said to Balin suddenly. "You can call me Jetta. Young lass makes me feel like a sissy." she told the dwarves as they lead her out of the room.

Thorin watched, slightly amused as the blonde went along with his kinsman as if she knew them all her life. He couldn't say the same for the other woman though, who held more of the authoritative perspective that he often found himself holding. _Different personalities, but you can still tell their a close set of siblings_, his mind chanted.

The woman, Jetta, was blonde unlike her sister standing feet away from him, whom was a brunette. Though, he noted, their hair color held a tint of greyness to it that reminded him of old weathered and aged wood. He realized at that moment that she was not much taller than he was, which was saying a lot for he cold tell that she didn't resemble anything close to dwarves and nothing even closer to that of elves, which he was silently thankful for, though he wasn't sure why.

She held herself true though, looking at Gandalf expectantly, waiting for him to begin before raising a delicate brow. "Well?"

Thorin was suddenly amused at see the wizard shuffle his feet. "It would seem that you already know that you and your sister are no longer on the way to New Zealand anymore." he said sitting down in the seat that Jetta vacated.

"Yeah, I gathered that much." she said crossing her arms over her chest and moving so her back was facing the fire and she faced Gandalf directly.

This slight movement didn't go unnoticed by Thorin or Gandalf who briefly glanced at each other, the former holding a twinkle in his eye that Thorin wasn't sure to be weary of or not.

"Why don't you start from the beginning," she said and Thorin could hear the underlining anger in her voice.

"Alright," Gandalf began, "My name is not Gregory Grey. My name is Gandalf the Grey and I am a wizard. And this here is Thorin Oakenshield." he said gesturing to Thorin himself. "And well, we would like your sister and yourself to join up on an adventure."

* * *

Man, writing this chapter sucked ass. I had already written out probably six pages before I hated the direction everything was going in, so I ripped it all out and started over. I had to admit, it was a bit like pulling teeth on this one. Oh well.

_**DandelionXF**_


	4. Chapter 4

_25th August 2013_ - This chapter actually came to me pretty easily, albeit slowly. Once I get going there's not really anything stopping me beside my own stamina. But I can't promise any real quick updates because I'm about to (hopefully) increase my work load here soon. If you'll work with me on that, I'll do my best to update as much as I can.

Standard disclaimers stand in place. I pretty much don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

Jetta knew from a young age that Garnet was the more responsible and level-headed one out of the two of them. She wasn't very surprised either as that trait grew into a more leadership role as their lives continued on. Jetta was thankful for this, though she would never tell Garnet, for she secretly liked the thought that Garnet would take care of everything. It was more of her personality to go with the wind and Garnet would be the stick in the mud that she would blow over. But in the back of her mind she knew that this wasn't entirely true. For what Garnet has done for her, Jetta imagined not many other people would. She closed her eyes briefly as a memory of a past mistake flickered through Jetta's mind and she was overcome with images of how Garnet, not Jetta, payed the price for the choice that she made.

She quickly replaced the memory with another one of their parents instead; it was of them commenting of how their children reminded them a bit of Heaven and Earth, which was nice they had said, because it was nice to remember how much they really had waiting for them back home whenever their parents had to leave because of their jobs.

Jetta, they said, was like the Heaven; she had a sense of freshness about her that was coupled with an ability to sway people over in a heartbeat, a trait that she used very much in her younger age. Though she didn't quite have the sense of seeing someone's true colors like her sister did, she had an uncanny ability to make people see the world around them for what it really was; it was a sense of guidance that one would see only in a paragon, so she never really saw what people were but instead saw what they could become.

Then they said that Garnet was their solid rock, like the Earth that they could all stand on. While Jetta was free-spirited and light, Garnet held a strong and constant force within her that lead many to believe that she was extremely wise for such a young age. Even though she was sensible and sharp, which allowed her to see people for what they really were, Garnet was more quite and less outspoken than her twin and tended to keep all her emotions and thoughts bottled within her and mostly choosing to let people make their own decisions. Definitely the stubborn one out of the two of them, their parents remarked.

Jetta smiled faintly when someone had once described a fight that the twins had. They had said that it was like watching and unstoppable force; Jetta, meeting an unmovable object; Garnet. Though when they did argue now, Jetta was usually the one to give in first and brush aside whatever they were fighting over, whereas Garnet could hold onto a grudge for ages. _Not only that, but I hate it when that girl's anger finally gets the best of her_, she thought.

So when Jetta saw the look on her sister's face, that pinning look that she placed on Mr. Grey, _Gandalf_, her mind corrected in a singsong voice, she let the dwarves lead her out of the room with little to no fuss. She did glance back over her shoulder at the one dwarf that stayed behind with Garnet and Gandalf. He was different for the others, that much she could tell. He held an air about him that was slightly arrogant but it also held a sort of brewing anger underneath that almost seemed to be waiting to burst out.

_Much like Garnet herself_, Jetta was silently shocked by her own thought and didn't even realize that the dwarves had by now lead her to the kitchen and were piling a feast's worth of food on the small table that sat in front of a now dieing fire.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

Jetta was being shown to sit down at the spot between the fire and the table itself and looked over to see who was addressing her, and she saw that it was one of the younger dwarves. Honey-colored hair, a pair of sea-blue eyes and two of what Jetta thought were the most alluring braids hanging from the beard that adorned his young face.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but it's just that you don't see two beautiful women falling out of the sky that often. I'm Fili by the way. At your service." Fili said with a smile.

Jetta couldn't stop the blush from flaring across her cheeks and mentally cursed at herself for being caught off guard by the compliment. In the back of her mind, she could hear Garnet's voice teasing her since she was usually the one to react this way to comments, not Jetta.

Now, don't get her wrong. Jetta knew that her sister and herself were well off when it came to the looks department. However unlike her twin, whom couldn't tell when someone was hitting on her or not, Jetta was quite will versed on how to handle the opposite sex. But for some reason that she couldn't pin down, the random comment had that effect on her.

"And not to sound rude, Fili was it? But where exactly is 'here' again?" she tossed back.

Fili's face was quickly replaced by another young dwarf. His features were completely the opposite of Fili's; long dark hair that fell to his shoulder and a barley there beard that Jetta thought suited him very well without even knowing him. Though she did have to admit, despite their differences they did look somewhat alike.

"Why that would be Middle-Earth, well Hobbiton to be more exact. And I'm Kili, at your service my lady." Kili said. "And why were you both falling out of the sky?" he asked. "One moment there was nothing, and the next thing we all know, there's two women falling into the lake right outside."

"I'm not sure exactly." Jetta said looking to a from Fili and Kili who were now sitting across from her. "Though I am pretty sure it has something to do with Garnet and I meeting Gandalf at the airport though. Oh, thank you!" she said smiling sweetly to Ori who had set a plate of cheese, meats and bread in front of her.

"Ah, well, you're very welcome." he said with a blush tinting his own face.

"What's an airport?" Bofur asked, "Never heard that word before."

Jetta stilled herself as she was about to take a bite of bread and scrunched her eyes before it became apparent to her that something was wrong. She opened her eyes fully and looked around almost as if seeing and recognizing her surroundings for the first time. _No electricity, candles for lights, some of the strangest clothing I've ever seen when I know for a fact there wasn't any conventions on anything going on. And not to mention they speak so weird_. She noticed then that all of the dwarves were casting curious looks at her then and Jetta quickly shifted her eyes from each one.

She briskly stood up then and the sound of the bench scraping against the floor filled the room. "I have to find my sister." she mumbled mostly to herself as she brushed past the surprised dwarves and went back the way that they just came. "Garnet!" she said loud enough that she hoped heard sister heard her as she looked over her shoulder to see Fili and Kili hot on her heels.

Just as she turned the forward and went around the corner she came face to face with her twin and stopped herself before they abruptly ran into each other.

"Jetta." Garnet said snatching her wrist before turning around and pulling her along, "Come on, we're leaving."

Jetta said nothing and allowed her sister to drag her along. She glanced sideways and saw that Gandalf and the dwarf from before were standing in the hallway from the room with the burning fire. "Now Garnet, if you and your sister would please just wait a moment and let me explain to you a bit more." Gandalf said as he and Thorin began to follow the two.

"What is there to explain?" Garnet snapped over her shoulder and Jetta winced slightly as Garnet tightened her grip on her wrist slightly. "You're mad if you think that we'll agree to this!"

"Now just wait a moment," Gandalf said following the girls as the finally reached the front door and Garnet stepped outside.

"Garnet just wait a second." Jetta said stopping and pulling her wrist free. "What the Hell is going on here?"

"You want to know what's going on, okay I'll tell you. This old man brought us here," she said pointing an accusing finger at Gandalf, "because he wants us to lead this group of dwarves halfway across, whatever country this is, so they can kill a dragon, a dragon mind you, not a joke, and help them get back there home. That's what's going on." she said in a huff.

"And the catch?" Jetta asked looking back at Gandalf.

"The catch," Garnet began, catching her attention again and Jetta saw that she a glare plastered on her face, "is that this old man says that he is the only one that could send us back but cannot do so until he finishes this quest." she said almost spitting out the last bit.

"Watch what you're saying woman." said the gruff dwarf who stood beside Gandalf.

_Wrong thing to say_, Jetta though as she looked from Thorin to Garnet and could see the anger burning under her twin's cracking facade.

"I can't watch what I'm saying unless I'm looking in a mirror." Garnet growled and Jetta had to stifle her laugh with a fake cough.

"Now Thorin, give the girls a break." Gandalf said placing a hand on Thorin's shoulder, thus stopped the dwarf's tirade before he could unleash it. "Their situation is quite different from Bilbo's so we could only expect different reactions." Gandalf said as if already knowing what Thorin was thinking. "The deBarose twins being that they are not even from this world but I wanted them to join this quest because we could use their expertise."

"Oh? And what expertise would that be?" Garnet asked sarcastically, "It's not like we know that we're in the Shire or more specifically Hobbiton. Or that we'd be taking the Great East Road to Rivendell and from there..." her voice trailed off into wonder.

"...We would cross the Misty Mountains and pass through Greenwood the Great, or Mirkwood as the locals call it now. From there we'll travel North up the River Running which will take up through Esgaroth and the Long Lake. Then just beyond that lies the dead city of Dale followed by..."

"Erebor." Thorin finished looking back forth from the girls in awe. "How is it that you both know of our course of travel when we just met?"

"Yes, how is that?" Jetta asked suspiciously looking at Gandalf and not missing him avoiding making eye contact with the twins.

"It would see now that you two," he said pointing to and from Jetta and Garnet, "now know that landscapes and maps even better than I can boast." he pronounced happily.

"How is this happening?" Garnet mumbled to herself and looked up at the stars. "This can't be happening."

Jetta could feel the anguish and disbelief coming off her twin in almost waves. Whenever Garnet got like this, overly stressed about their well beings, Jetta would usually be the one who would step forward and ease the situation down. She had a talent for that, she noticed, though Jetta kept that mostly to herself. When Garnet couldn't keep her anger under check, it tended to blind her views of everything and everyone around her. So when Jetta saw the slow descent of how things were beginning to unfold, she stepped forward.

"Garnet," Jetta said stepping outside and placing her hand lightly on one of her sister's closed fists. "Calm down, please?"

Garnet loosed her tiny fists and sighed before looking at Jetta. Jetta herself began to feel her heart break when she saw the tears that were welling up in her twin's eyes and Jetta remembered that Garnet had confessed that sometimes her emotions were hot-wired to her tear ducts and she tended to cry whenever she was feeling strongly about something.

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's alright. We'll be alright." Jetta said and stepped forward so she was facing Garnet directly.

"How can you ask me to be calm about a situation like this?" Garnet said as a single tear escaped her. "How can you be so calm right now?" she ground out.

"Because," Jetta said bringing her free hand up to wipe away the lone tear. "I know that we're going to be okay. You know as well as I do that we're going to help these people because neither of us could stand the thought of not helping someone who really needs it. And if it's the price that we have to pay in order to get home, then so be it. Hey, at least it's not like we don't know where we are going." she said with a small laugh as a crystal clear image of Middle-Earth appeared in her mind as she knew it did in Garnet's as well. "And besides," Jetta said grabbing Garnet's head on both sides making her look at her directly. "you always have me."

"Always?"

"Always."

* * *

So who would know that even though the chapter itself was easy enough to write, it would be such a bitch to edit. Sorry if there's any grammar mistakes and whatnot. I'm on the edge of passing out while typing this. I did want to say though that at this point I'm trying to develop Garnet and Jetta's characters a bit and was curious to see how everyone thought it was turning out. Leave some thoughts and comments, they'll be helpful in the long run.

Until next time.

**_DandelionXF_**


	5. Chapter 5

_31st August 2013_ - So yeah. This was a fun one to write! Even funner to type up because I tried to slice a chunk of my finger off at work on Thursday.

Joy.

Don't own anything.

* * *

There were times when Garnet wished that she had a personality more like her sister, and then there were times that she didn't.

She just wasn't sure which one to chose right now.

Jetta was always a bit more spontaneous than Garnet, so when the dwarves reached the Green Dragon Inn early the next morning, she wasn't too surprised when Jetta volunteered to go with Gandalf back to Bagend to fetch their burglar. So there she was, all alone with thirteen dwarves waiting at a tiny little inn for an occasional wizard, a missing twin and a reluctant hobbit. She did feel a bit bad for Bilbo though. He was ambushed by dwarves who wanted to catapult him into a world that he hardly knew. Then he was prompted further by the entrance of two strange women falling literally into their plans; seeing that they joined the company, but only after quite a bit of persuasion, the dwarves expected the same from him too.

Garnet cringed to herself when she remembered the state of the hobbit hole when they left in a hushed hurry that morning. It was still dark out when she was awoken by a shaking hand on her shoulder. She rolled over, half-expecting to find Jetta by her side but was surprised to see that the space beside her was empty and looked up to see that it was none other that Thorin Oakenshield himself trying to wake her. She sat up quickly and just caught Thorin saying that they were leaving in a few moments before he walked away and was quickly replaced by Jetta.

"Get up sleepy head!" Jetta said pulling her from underneath the blankets. "Here." she said shoving what Garnet was pleasantly surprised to see was a steaming cup of coffee and a chocolate muffin, the best combination in the world, into her hands. "Come on, come on! We're in a hurry!" Jetta said ushering Garnet out of the room and into what Garnet suspected was the wet room of Bagend.

Seeing that all the dwarves were packed and ready to go, Garnet hastily downed the muffin and the coffee, ignoring the stinging sensation that the later brought and quickly shoved on her boots and wrestled her arms into her coat.

"Here." Jetta said suddenly appearing with two backpacks that looked to be packed with all the camping essentials.

Garnet gave Jetta a flat look.

"What?" Jetta said shrugging her shoulders. "Oh, it was Bilbo's." she explained as she swung her own pack onto her shoulders. "Gandalf said that he was sure that he wouldn't mind at all. Probably wouldn't even notice that we were using them actually."

"Everyone ready?" and the twins looked up to see none other than Thorin calling out, "Let's be on our way then." he said passing his gaze over everyone and Garnet couldn't stop the shiver as it shot up her spine when his eyes stayed on hers a bit longer.

And that's how she ended up here, at the Green Dragon Inn. Garnet normally chose to be by herself most of the time time, usually only being able to withstand Jetta's presences, but it was becoming quickly obvious that there was no such thing as personal space when it came to traveling with dwarves.

"What's it like where you come from?" Kili said.

Garnet looked over to who was addressing her and contemplated her answer. "It's big."

"How big?" Fili asked.

"Huge."

"Do they have dwarves there?"

"Yes."

"Elves."

"No.

"Men?"

"What the Hell do you think I am?"

Fili rubbed his fingers down one of the braids dangling from his mouth. "Good point." he said. "What about gold?"

"Gold is not the main currency used anymore, though it is still highly valued."

"And dragons?"

"Quite frankly, I grew up with dragons as figments of someone's imagination. Not reality. So, no. No dragons."

"What about...

"...Stop pestering her already." Thorin's voice called out from across the room. "I'm sure we'll learn about Lady Garnet's world with time to come." he said before turning back to his conversation with Gloin.

Garnet shot him a grateful look and received a slight nod in return. She stood up then, choosing to go outside for some fresh air instead. Stepping out the door, she saw that Balin was standing to her right, watching the path that they had come from earlier in search of, what she presumed was the arrival of Gandalf, Jetta and Bilbo.

"Sill no sign of them yet?" Garnet asked coming to stand by his side.

Balin turned his head towards her. "No, I'm afraid not. But don't worry lass. Gandalf will show up with Lady Jetta and Master Baggins in do time." he said and looked across the way.

Garnet followed his gaze and saw that he was watching Dwalin along with Bifur, Bofur, Nori and Dori as they spoke to a local farmer about purchasing his ponies for their long journey. Just across the way she noticed that Bombur had dragged what looked like a reluctant Ori and Oin along with him to purchase the company's food.

"You all do stay quite busy all the time, don't you?" she said offhandedly.

"Well, it's in our nature, it's what we do. Miners, chemists, warriors, tinkers toy-makers. We all have passions that we follow that keeps us well busy."

"And Thorin? What is his passion?"

"Thorin's passion is the well-being up his people."

"His people? You mean the company right?" she said nodding towards Dwalin and the others as they began to walk towards the inn, ponies in tow.

"In perspective." Balin said. "You see lass, to our people, Thorin is our king." he said looking over at the entrance of the inn to see Thorin along with Fili, Kili and Gloin emerge.

"Well how 'bout that?" she mumbled to herself as she watched Thorin inspect the ponies that were purchased.

Garnet sighed and shook her head and looked over to see two small figures walking up the path that lead into Bywater.

"What is it lass?" Balin asked following her line of sight.

"Well," Garnet began as the figures came closer, "it looks like my sister and Bilbo have finally arrived, but I wonder why there's no Gandalf?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about Gandalf's disappearance. He'll join up sooner or later. Though he does usually show himself at the most opportune moments."

"Garnet!" Jetta called catching everyone's attention while jogging up to her sister's side with a huffing Bilbo beside her. "We made it." she said laying a hand on Bilbo's shoulder who was smiling despite trying to still catch his breath.

"I signed it." Bilbo said happily handing his contract back to Balin.

"And just in time it would seem," he said and Garnet smiled as he pulled out a small pair of glasses to look the contract over more closely. "I think we're just about to leave." he said as he began to walk over to where Thorin was waiting and the others followed after him.

"What about Gandalf?" Garnet asked Jetta as they fell in step with Balin.

"He said he would lock up and take care of everything for Bilbo and would join us later on." Jetta explained.

"Here you go Lady Garnet." Bofur said striding up to them with three ponies close behind. "This here is Sundrop." he said handing Garnet the reins of a golden haired pony. "And this is Fireball. He'll be yours Lady Jetta." he said handing Jetta the reins of a deep red haired pony. "And this is Myrtle." he said handing the last set of reins to Bilbo, who began to decline but was quickly cut off by Bofur's explanation that it would too hard for the little hobbit to keep up with the company.

Garnet gave Bilbo a weak smile and handed Jetta her pack and supplies to load onto Fireball's back as she did the same with Sundrop. The two were minding themselves and were checking and re-checking the supplies they were given to store on their ponies, when Garnet looked up to see Fili and Kili speaking enthusiastically to her sister just as they were to her earlier. Shaking her head, Garnet went back to her own business and tightened the straps to her saddle when she heard what sounded like someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Thorin." she said turning around to see the dwarf king standing there with what she assumed was his own pony for the journey. "How may I help you?" she asked.

She supposed that if it were Jetta he was speaking to, she wouldn't have noticed the way that he maneuvered his pony so it was standing parallel to hers. But it didn't go unnoticed by Garnet. _A bit of makeshift privacy by the looks of it_. For a moment he just stared at her and Garnet was beginning to wonder if something was wrong and looked around before turning back to him. "Thorin?"

This seemed to bring him to a realization as to where he was as he slowly turned around to grab something from his pack that was settled behind his own saddle. Garnet attempted to look over his shoulder to see what he was searching for, but shrunk down when he turned back around.

"Here." he said handing her an axe he had strapped at his pony's back. "Take this." And then he grabbed her wrist and placed the axe handle in her hand. "And this too." he said grabbing her other hand and shoving a beautifully jeweled dagger that sat in a small holster into other right hand.

Garnet looked at him blankly, holding the weapons in her hands stiffly. "I supposed you expect me to know what to do with these."

A scowl flashed across his face then and he ripped the dagger's holster out of her hand. "Women, in my culture are considered a rarity and should thus be protected as such. I'm giving these to you out of the hope that you may never have to use them." he said unbuckling the buckle and reaching around her waste. Garnet couldn't resist, with his arms around her to breath in his scent as it overwhelmed her sense. _Pine and tobacco. _

"So seeing as you and your sister are to be traveling with us, I'd prefer you to be armed." he said tightening the belt and looking her straight in the eye.

Hearing a bit of laughter, Garnet looked to her left, and around the head of Sundrop she could see where Jetta was standing with Fili and Kili and saw Kili handing Jetta a small bow and a quiver of arrows.

Garnet clenched her jaw when she felt Thorin's hand grabbing her chin and turning it so she was facing him once again. "That would also be why," he said with a glare to match her own now steely look, "you'll be my shadow from now on. Now since you and your sister are to be our guides, both of you are now the most valuable members in the company, and thus you will be the most protected. My nephews and I are the best fighters among us. Your sister will be well watched over, rest easy. And you," he said emphasizing his words by jabbing a finger in her chest, "will by by my side at all times."

_Breath. Breath. Don't punch him in the face. Don't brake his nose_. Garnet closer her eyes and chanted the mantra over and over. _In and out. In and out._

Opening her eyes again, Garnet slowly brought her free hand up and grabbed the offending finger that was stabbing her in the chest. Looking up at Thorin, Garnet didn't miss the small twitch in his eye when she applied some pressure to his appendage as she moved it away. "I don't care who you are, but no one can talk to me or my sister that way. Ever." she said throwing his finger away.

Garnet smirked then, seeing his anger beginning to bubble under the surface of his face and waited for the assault that he was about to unleash.

"Now you listen here, Garnet," he spat and said person didn't miss how he had failed to add the 'Lady' part to her name as he did before, "You're under my protection now, and that means you'll do as I say."

"Or what?" she snapped back, feeling her own anger getting the best of her. "You're not my leader, so therefore I don't give a flying fuck what you say if you can't learn to tone it down a bit. You have to give respect to earn respect kingly."

To put her point across even further, Garnet gave Thorin a small shove, expecting him to just look at her in surprise so she could get away from the pushy dwarf king as quickly as she could. The surprise was on her instead when Thorin grabbed the hand that lay on his chest and yanked her body towards his. Garnet hammered her eyes shut, thinking that she was going to slam face first into him, but her eyes shot open when nothing happened. When she felt his hot breath on her mouth, Garnet honestly thought that he was going to kiss her. She was so shocked by the thought that she froze; staring straight into those blue eyes, getting lost in them almost.

"I don't know what it is about you," Thorin began in a low voice, "but your presence here is something more than Gandalf just bringing you here on a whim. I can feel it, and I know you can too. So that is why," and with this he moved his mouth to the side of her face just beside her ear, "you will stay with me." he finished and Garnet shivered when she felt his lips ghost over her temple.

Thorin pulled back to get a better look at her face, and Garnet felt her well built walls beginning to crumble as she closed her eyes and gave a small nod of understanding. Little did Thorin know, behind those walls was a raging storm. _Let the games begin_.

* * *

I wanted to add a little steam finally. Trying to spice things up is funner than I thought it would be, hence this chapter being butt-ass long. Fuck yea.

Until next time.

_**DandelionXF**_


	6. Chapter 6

_8th August 2013_ - A slow start for this one I'm afraid. Took me a bit longer then I expected. I also ended up scrapping probably six pages of this chapter too so that doesn't exactly help.

I don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

Bywater was now a day behind them and Jetta was thankful when night fell and they made camp on the cliff side. Garnet and herself had ridden horses when they were younger of course, but her inner thigh muscles were killing her.

Looking up she was happy to see that there wasn't a cloud in the sky to block her view from the stars. Smiling briefly she looked around the camp to see mostly everyone asleep; Fili, Kili and herself were awake for the first watch though Gandalf was nearby smoking his pipe and she had just seen Balin wake-up and walk away, and she assumed it was to answer the call of nature.

A soft snore from her left made her look over to where Garnet was sleeping not so silently. Her sister had always been sort of a heavy sleeper; with it usually taking physical movement or an extremely loud noise to wake her. Jetta frowned then, she saw how Garnet was laying her on side and a bit of the fabric on her coat had ridden up and Jetta's eyes instantly shot to the three jagged scars that were peaking out on her sister's skin. She knew she was being paranoid; that her own conscious was nagging her any and every time she saw those scars, but Jetta couldn't stand the sight of them.

So that was how before she knew it, Jetta had left Fili and Kili's side and she found herself kneeling beside Garnet's instead. Grabbing onto her sister's coat, she pulled the clothing down so that her scars were fully covered.

"All scars tell different stories."

Jetta whipped her head around and saw that it was Kili who had spoken to her, however both he and his brother were watching her intently. "Sometimes, scars even represent more than just the people they claim."

"Maybe those stories are best kept quiet." she mumbled sitting back down by his side.

Sensing her annoyance, Kili went back to packing his pipe and left Jetta alone. Jetta was still scowling to herself when she caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye. She watched with interest as Bilbo stood up and walked over to his horse, Myrtle. Jetta felt bad for the small hobbit as he wasn't taking to riding ponies as easily as Garnet and herself had. _But at least he's making an effort to try and get along with his horse even though he's not the best at riding it_, she thought as she saw Bilbo sneak his pony an apple.

A piercing screech suddenly ran through the night and she could tell that it came from the lands far below where they were located.

"What was that?"

"Orcs." Kili said.

"Orcs?" Bilbo asked.

"Throat cutters. They'll be dozens of them out there. The low lands are crawling with them." Fili said.

"They attack when everyone is asleep." Kili said and Jetta suddenly realized that they were playing on the hobbit's fears. "They are quick and quiet, no screams, just a lot of blood."

She watched as panic was starting to take it's grip on Bilbo when she heard Fili and Kili chuckle to themselves and Jetta scowled again, already annoyed that the brothers were digging into her own personal business.

She was just about to say something to the two but Thorin beat her to it. From there, she listened to the leader of the group berate the younger duo for joking over such a serious matter. Jetta couldn't help but agree with the older dwarf and then watched him walk away form the camp towards the edge of the cliff.

Balin returned then she noticed, and Jetta listened to his tale of how the dwarves tried to reclaim the ancient city of Moria and to as why Thorin hated orcs so much. _I hope I won't come close to any of those foul creatures anytime soon_, she thought. Guilt would soon plague her again, for later that night, Garnet would have an encounter of her own.

* * *

"Keep you elbow down. Arm straight. Now breath. Keep an eye on your target and stay calm. When you feel like you have the shot, just let go."

Jetta listened to Kili's careful instructions and stared down the small target that he had set up a few yards away. Taking a deep breath, she let the arrow go just as she released the air that she was holding in and watched as the arrow shot from her bow and hit it's target true.

"Fantastic!" Kili said from her side. "Now let's see how well you do with a target that's a bit further away."

"Okay.

A small smiled had bloomed across her face when her arrow hit it's mark and Jetta looked over to see if Garnet had see her feat at all. Her smile fell though when she realized that Garnet wasn't watching her at all but was instead working with Dwalin on what looked like to be her foot work.

Since the orc scout had stumbled into their camp just two nights ago, Jetta noticed that either Thorin or Dwalin would be working with Garnet constantly, though she didn't miss how if Thorin wasn't working with her, then he would be watching her like a hawk. _Possessive little dwarf isn't he?_

Jetta moved a stray piece of blonde hair away from her face and felt that she wasn't in much of a better place. Fili and Kili were on her case constantly about her archery skills; good, but could improve. Not only that, but just recently Fili had told her that he was going to begin training her on how to go about using two swords instead of just one. Jetta smiled then, and waited for Kili to return to her side before raising the bow again. A sudden prickling feeling in the back of her neck made her aware that Fili was watching her once more as she drew her bow back taught.

Jetta didn't know if it had to do with coming to this world or not, but every time when either of the two dwarf brothers were looking at her, and she had her back turned to them, a tingling sensation would begin at the nape of her neck.

"Ready for another go then?" Kili said from her right.

Following the same steps from before Jetta shot down her target with little to no problem at all.

A low whistle from behind her to her left made Jetta turn around to see Fili walking over to where she and Kili were standing. "I might as well say that she's almost as good as you, brother." Fili said coming to a stop on the other side of Jetta.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, exactly."

"Oh, really." Jetta said facing Kili now, cocking her said to the side.

Jetta bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from outright laughing as she saw the panicked look on the young dwarf's face. "Don't get me wrong! You're good, very good actually!" he said correcting himself.

"Right..." she said enjoying teasing Kili even more.

"Well if you're done here, I daresay it's my turn with the Lady." Fili said lightly grabbing Jetta's arm and pulling her away.

Laughing to herself, Jetta quickly peeked over her shoulder and Kili a quick wink of the eye. His previous look was replaced by a bright smile and Jetta squirmed as the butterflies began to fly in her stomach.

Following Fili, Jetta took a moment to look around her surroundings of the place that the company made camp at for the night. A high steep cliff edge set before lush green grass with trees scattered here and there. She saw that Bombur was making the camp's supper in the remains of an old dilapidated farm house. The dwarves themselves were dotted about here and there and Jetta once again looked over to where Garnet was once again and then winced. Thorin was working with her twin now, and she just saw him sweep her sister's feet out from under her and knocking her straight onto her back.

Fili was off fetching a pair of swords for her to work with and Jetta watched Garnet and Thorin's interaction in secret. _Strange to see her failing so miserably_, Jetta thought as she watched Thorin help Garnet up from the ground. Granted, she knew that Garnet was just as athletically gifted as she was though not with fighting of course, but still, to see her so off balance was so strange.

"You do that a lot, you know." Fili said returning with a second pair of swords for Jetta to work with.

Grabbing the swords with a huff she shot the blonde dwarf with a playful glare. "And what would that be, may I ask?"

"Daydream. You do it quite often, when you think no one is watching." he explained.

"But you are obviously watching." she quickly countered.

Jetta was a little miffed that she didn't get the reaction that she wanted. If she would have made such a brash comment to Kili, it would have the young dwarf stumbling over his own feet. Fili, however, stared back at her with his own playful twinkle of the eye.

"I do. But you can only imagine it's hard to stop staring at something you find so alluring." he said unabashedly, causing Jetta to stare at him deeply. "But I also can see the worry for a sibling in your eyes when you watch your sister."

"I'm just looking out for her, that's all."

"You know that your sister is well watched over." Fili said nodding to where Garnet and Thorin where and both of them winced together as Thorin knocked Garnet to the ground again. "Well watched enough." he said mumbling to himself and then shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Alas I can see the way you look at her from over your shoulder; it's quite often. And I can tell that Lady Garnet is more or less the leader of the two of you. But for her taking the lead, I think you watch over her more than you would like her to know. "

"And what do you know?" Jetta said now annoyed. "How could you possi-whoa!" she yelped quickly bringing up one of her swords to parry Fili's.

"Lesson one!" he suddenly said leaping back a breath, "Keep your head in the fight!"

* * *

Later that night, Jetta was sitting beside the fire letting the warmth wash over her aching muscles and joints. The blazing fire was dancing shadows all over the camp and it had an almost spelling affect on her and she could feel her weariness from the day finally catching up with her.

"I see you're just as tired as I am." Garnet said plopping down beside her sister.

"I don't know," Jetta said bumping her shoulder against Garnet's and the two of them winced together. "I did see Thorin throw you down a couple of times." she said and not missing the way her sister's eyes fell to the ground and glared.

"That stubborn dwarf must think that the only way I'll learn anything is to beat it into me."

"I know how that feels." Jetta said rolling her shoulder as she glanced over to the area that she knew that Fili and Kili were watching the ponies. "But he means well I'm sure. Especially after what happened with you and that scout."

"Are you sure though?" Garnet said completely ignoring the fact that Jetta pointed out that Thorin was looking out for her. "You saw how his stubbornness made Gandalf leave. And you know as well as weirdly as I do that there are possibly trolls lurking around here. Yet, he ignored Gandalf's, yours and my advice simply because he doesn't want to go near the Hidden Valley. I'm surprised that neither of his nephews' carry his ignorance as well."

"Nephews?"

"Fili and Kili, of course."

"Fili and Kili are Thorin's nephews? Jetta asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"Well that explains a lot. I always did wonder why he gave more attention to those two."

"Yeah, well, they must get their kindness from their mother." Garnet mumbled.

Wanting to stretch her legs before quieting down for the night, Jetta stood up before looking down at Garnet. "You want to go check on Fireball and Sundrop with me?"

Jetta saw that her sister was about to say yes to her when a shadow came and stood beside them, darkening them both.

"Best keep your strength and get some rest for the night. Both of you." Thorin said shoving a bowl of stew into Garnet's hands before turning around and walking back to where Balin and Dwalin were sitting.

"I guess not." Garnet sighed.

"He is a bit rough on you, isn't he?"

Jetta's only answer was Garnet grunting before shoving her face with stew. Turning around she just heard Bofur asking Bilbo to bring some stew to Fili and Kili.

"Here Bilbo, I'll come with you." Jetta offered.

"Why thank you!"

The two walked together deeper into the woods, not knowing that they would be doing more then just serving food to their friends tonight.

* * *

Good thing I decided to edit this chapter twice. I like to make a lot of grammatical mistakes apparently.

Until next time,

**_DandelionXF_**


	7. Chapter 7

_12th September 2013_ - My horoscope said that my creatives juices would be flowing these past few days, and have they! Busted this one out in one day! One day! And it's longer than I normally make my chaps. Eh?! Eh?! Wassup.

Don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

Garnet was tired, sore, a little annoyed but altogether feeling pretty good about her current situation. With a stomach full of stew and grass so soft she could easily mistake it for a bed at a luxury five star hotel, she knew she would sleep like the dead until it was time for Thorin's and her turn for watch duty.

Laying down on her side on the lush ground, Garnet propped her right arm underneath her head and closed her eyes. Weariness was catching up with her and she was ready for sleep but she wouldn't do so until Jetta returned. Cracking an eye open, she looked over to where Jetta and Bilbo had disappeared off to and wondered how much longer her twin and the little hobbit were going to take. Garnet closed her eye again and rolled over onto her back and rested her hands behind her head as a makeshift pillow.

Deciding that she couldn't keep herself conscious any longer, she slowly let sleep claim her as she evened out her breathing and relaxed all of her muscles. Her mind had just gotten all of the tenser muscles in her body to ease out when she heard someone sit down beside her.

"I'm not going to do runaway or do anything foolish you know." she said without opening her eyes, and Garnet swore she heard someone snort indignantly. "I'm quite positive you made sure of that while I was working with you earlier. It's safe to say that I like laying on the ground rather than being thrown down onto it." she said in a breath of sarcasm to Thorin.

"Maybe if your foot work wasn't so horrendous, you wouldn't be thrown down so often." he shot back.

Opening her eyes, an upside down version of Thorin greeted her. He wasn't looking at her but at the fire in the middle of the camp instead. Even from her obscured view Garnet could tell that Thorin's mind was nowhere where his body was.

"What plagues your thoughts, Kingly?" she asked knowing that even if she didn't get the answer that she was looking for, she would still get some kind of reply out of him for she knew that he hated the nickname that she gave him.

Thorin looked down at her before looking back to the fire. "Nothing that concerns you."

"And yet it is my company that you sought out." and Garnet chuckled lightly when she saw Thorin shoot a look at her. "Such a stonewall you are Thorin Oakenshield." she said and just before she closed her eyes she caught Thorin looking at her fully.

Garnet didn't bother to open her eyes when he spoke to her, choosing instead to just listen to the sound of his voice. "I do believe that is the first time you've said my full name."

"True. I can't say the same for you though."

"Garnet deBarose."

Said person cracked an eye open to see Thorin still looking down at her. Sighing, Garnet sat up, ignoring the protest her muscles were making and moved so she was cross legged beside Thorin.

"That's not actually my full name."

"It's not?"

"Garnet Nox deBarose." she said looking back towards the fire. "Where we come from, it's customary to have a first, middle and last name." she explained. "My sister is no different. Jetta Neliel deBarose."

"I see."

"Hmm, it can be confusing but you get used to it after a while. Just like how I'll eventually get used to this place." Garnet said once again closing her eyes and falling back onto the grass.

She felt Thorin's gaze on her even without opening her eyes. "Would you stay here?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you had the choice between staying here with us," and at this Thorin nodded towards the other dwarves, "or going back to your home. Which would you chose?"

"It's hard to say." she said after a moment. "I know what my world has to offer and in the end, that's reassuring. But..."

"But?" he urged.

Garnet looked up at the stars and suddenly realized that she didn't recognize a single constellation in the sky. "There is so much of this place that I haven't seen or explored or experienced that the thought of staying here to do all that is quite alluring. And the people are pretty nice. Well soooooo far they are." she said looking at Thorin suspiciously.

Thorin smirked down at her and Garnet watched curiously as he began to take off the overly large vest that he wore. "I'm quite alright, thank you." she said attempting to stop him as he draped it over her.

"I know you are well capable of taking care of yourself, but at least allow me to do this." he said while looking at her in a way that Garnet wasn't sure she liked or not, or the way it played games on her nerves.

She said nothing in return but instead turned to her side so she was facing him and grabbed his vest so it was higher up on her shoulders; practically covering her entire head save her eyes which with she watched Thorin the entire time as she snuggled closer into the warmth that still hung on his clothes. The fur that wrapped around the top of the vest was warmer than she imagined it would be and Garnet found herself drifting off to sleep quicker than she thought she would.

So you can only imagine her surprise when Kili suddenly burst into the camp completely out of breath and looking alarmed. "Trolls!" he said between breaths. "Three of them, not far from here."

From beside her Thorin jumped to his feet and grabbed his weapons and Garnet watched as the others did the same.

"Where's Jetta?" Garnet asked Kili after grabbing her axe.

"With Fili." he said grabbing his own swords and Fili's as well. "Fili was right beside her when I left them to come back here."

"You left her there? One girl, one dwarf, and one hobbit with three trolls nearby!"

"They were well out of sight when I - hey!"

Kili attempted to grab Garnet's arm when she ran past him towards the way he just came from, but she was too quick and flew past him without so much as a second thought.

She didn't get far though because Thorin was quicker than his nephew and yanked Garnet's arm before she could get past the camp's clearing. "You are not going anywhere. You will stay here while we retrieve your sister and the hobbit and dispatch the trolls."

Angered, Garnet grabbed Thorin and brought him as close to her face as she could withstand. "What happened to being capable of taking care of myself?"

"This is entirely different!"

Garnet snarled at Thorin and pushed him away before turning heel and darting off into the dark forest.

"Foolish woman!" Thorin spat running after her.

"So much for not running away and not doing something foolish." Bofur said recalling what Garnet had said to Thorin earlier.

"No point in standing there and laughing about it, let's go lads!" Balin said running after the two.

"I think they're getting along very well, don't you!" A laughing Gloin said to Bofur whom fully agreed.

The group soon caught up with Garnet and Thorin and by the looks of it, had found Fili but Jetta was nowhere in sight.

"Fili!" Garnet said crouching beside the blonde dwarf. "Where the Hell is Jetta?"

"Well about that..." he said looking away from her and towards the glow of the fire in front of them.

"That dumb fucking blonde!" she growled while looking over at the three trolls.

Garnet was just about to jump up and stop her sister when Thorin's hand clapped down on her shoulder and pushing her back down into her crouching position. "What-?!"

She was stopped short when she saw Thorin placing a finger to his slips signaling silence. He nodded towards the trolls and Garnet saw that now one of the trolls was holding poor Bilbo upside down from his feet. Seeing Jetta though made her curse her sister up and down, left and right. Her dear twin was standing in front of the trolls, conversing with them.

"You don't want to eat him!" Jetta said to the trolls.

"Because...because...because he's infected!"

"He's what?" asked the troll with a squeaky voice.

"He's infected!" Jetta said louder. "That's why we're passing through here. We're looking for a cure!"

"An' what 'bout you?" asked the troll that was wearing what Garnet thought was an apron.

"I'm infected too!" she said quickly, "And...and you probably are now too!" she said pointing at the troll that was holding Bilbo.

"What a load of rubbish!" the troll while shaking poor Bilbo about, "Let's just eat em both an' be on wit it!"

Garnet felt her stomach drop when Jetta was snagged up by the same troll that held Bilbo and moved both of them so they were dangling over the fire.

Without thinking, Garnet jumped up from her position on the ground and leaped forward. Luckily, the group's hiding spot was just to the right of the troll that was holding her sister and Bilbo. A great log lay between Garnet and the troll and with a giant step she was a top the log and the next moment she was flying through the air.

A great growl ripped through the troll's throat as Garnet buried her axe in the wrist of the troll that was holding her sister. Jetta fell to the ground in a heap and Garnet was pulling Jetta to her feet before she even had a chance to catch her breath.

"Drop him!" Garnet yelled.

"Where did you come from?!"

From the other side of the clearing, Kili burst out of the bushes and sliced squeaky voice's heel causing him to fall down.

"I believe the lady said drop him."

With another growl the troll threw Bilbo at Kili and the two landed a mess on the ground. Just as the two fell down, the rest of the dwarves charged free from their hiding spots and started attacking the trolls all at once.

Grabbing Jetta the two moved about as best as they could between the dwarves and the troll's stomping feet. "Bilbo!" Garnet grasped the hobbit by the collar of his coat and pulled him to his feet. "Come on! We have to free the ponies!"

"Here!" Bilbo said picking up the makeshift knife that one of the trolls must have dropped. "We can cut them free with this."

"Hurry then!" Garnet ushered Jetta and Bilbo in front of her as they made their way over to where the ponies were tied up.

Garnet watched their backs as together Bilbo and Jetta used the over sized knife to cut the ropes that where holding the ponies back.

"Hurry!" Garnet yelled again just as Bilbo and Jetta freed the ponies.

"Garnet!"

Garnet turned around at the sound of Thorin's voice and saw just in time one of the trolls reaching for them. Taking her axe in both hands she brought the weapon down with a powerful stroke and chopped off several of the trolls fingers. It let loose a howl of pain and clutched at the stubs that were once it's fingers. It glared down at Garnet with a new vigor and it reached for her again. Without looking, she pushed the unsuspecting Jetta one way and dove the other leaving Bilbo to be snatched up by the troll with a small squeak.

"Lay down you arms!" one of the trolls said holding Bilbo's arm and leg as one of the other trolls grabbed his other arm and leg. "Or we'll rip his off."

Garnet looked over to where Thorin was with the rest of the dwarves and watched as he stabbed his sword into the ground. The others soon followed suit; throwing and dropping down their own weapons. Garnet followed them as well, dropping her axe not wanting any harm to befall her new little friend.

"And as fer you two!" apron clothes said, "We'll save you two fer lata!"

The last image Garnet saw was Thorin's frightened face as a sack was violently shoved over her head.

* * *

Thorin watched with a knot in his stomach as the troll shoved the sack over Garnet's body before swinging her up in the air.

"Garnet!"

Jetta ran to her sister's aid but just like her sibling she too was snatched up and tossed into another sack.

"Go on!" the troll that the other two called Bert said, "Save those two fer lata, Tom!"

"Alright, alright!"

With the two sacks in hand, Tom grumbled off past the dwarves and further into the woods.

"Let me go you, stupid troll!" Thorin heard the bag nearest to him shout. "I'll cut you fucking head off just like I cut off your friends' fingers!"

"I must say I do believe that." Thorin heard Balin mumble beside him.

Despite their current situation, Thorin found himself smirking as he heard Garnet's muffled threats through her sack. His grin grew even more when he saw her sack viciously move and he saw what he could only guess was her leg jet out and hit the troll in the stomach.

"Why you little-!"

Thorin watched as Tom simply flicked Garnet's bag and all movement inside ceased.

He moved to stop the troll from hurting Garnet even further but a hand stopped him and he looked over to see Balin. The old dwarf wasn't looking at the two other trolls as they started to bag his comrades one by one.

And just as the way he saw the sack thrown over Garnet, the same happened to Thorin.

* * *

When Garnet finally regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that her head was spinning and it wasn't helping that her stomach ached even more from where the troll had hit her. The next thing she noticed was that where ever she was, _still in a dirty sack though_, it reeked.

"Ugh," she attempted to calm her rolling stomach but being still stuffed into the tiny sack with no fresh air didn't help.

"Garnet! You finally awake?" she heard Jetta ask.

"Yea," she wheezed and attempted to turn to where she heard her twin's voice.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright! I heard you struggling earlier, but all of the sudden you went quiet." she heard Jetta explain.

"Well that would be because one of those stupid trolls hit me in my stomach, knocked the wind right out of me." Garnet explained while rubbing her sore stomach. "Are...are we hanging right now?"

"Yeah," Jetta said beside her, "That troll, I think his name is Tom, said that he was going to hook us up so that we wouldn't be able to get down on our own if we did manage to get out somehow."

"Great." Garnet huffed. "Do you know how long I've been out?"

"Can't be sure exactly. But would have to say at least a good ten minutes."

"And I'm guessing that one of those trolls brought us down into a cave?"

"Guessing from the smell of things I would say that you're right."

After a moment of silence, Jetta spoke up again. "How do you think the others are doing?"

"Better than we are, I hope. Can't really say though. But it has been quite a while, hasn't it? Maybe they're fighting back as we speak.

"A bit difficult to fight stone, don't you think, Thorin?"

"Indeed."

Garnet didn't know if she was angry or relieved, but all of her previous thoughts were forgotten as she began to struggle in her sack. "Gandalf, you're back! Hah ha! I knew you wouldn't leave us like that. And you, let me down right now Thorin! I know you're enjoying this more than what your letting on!"

"Well I'll be more than happy to help the lady with her request."

"Wait, what?"

Garnet's stomach flew upwards as she heard a bow string twang and the next moment she was falling down. She clenched her eyes shut, half expecting to land on the hard ground but instead found herself landing in a pair of arms. She felt herself being lowered to the ground before her sack was pulled away from her as a knife stabbed into it and then began cutting an opening. An open hand reached in, waiting for her to grasp it and without any hesitation, she grabbed the hand and the fingers tightened around hers and quickly pulled her free.

The light from the torch played with the shadows on Thorin's face, and Garnet couldn't tell if he was happy to see that she was still alive or angry at her for charging head-first into the troll camp.

"Missed me?"

A smile slowly spread across his face and Thorin gave one last good tug and pulled for from the sack and straight into his arms.

"Foolish women," she heard him mumble into her hair, "of course I'm glad to see you."

* * *

Wham and bam! Not too bad if I do say so myself. Feeling pretty good about this fic so far. Now let's just see how long I can keep this up.

Until next time,

_**DandelionXF**_


	8. Chapter 8

_18th September 2013_ - Bit long this one, I'll tell ya. Longer than I actually intended it to be. Quite a bit of revising too. So again, please excuse the grammar mistakes. Hmmm.

* * *

"Um hello! A little help over here would be nice please!" Jetta hollered catching everyone's attention. For a second nothing happened and Jetta began to get annoyed. "Let me the Hell down!"

Just as with Garnet, an arrow was shot at the rope that held Jetta's sack from the ceiling. Her stomach launched upwards so violently that she thought she was going to be sick. But she didn't have any time to think about her upset stomach when she felt as if she had fallen into a pair of arms. They wrapped around her tightly before gently and slowly placing her down on the ground. Jetta looked up when the top of her sack was pulled open and was glad to see Fili and Kili's searching faces.

"Uh, Merry Christmas?"

She could have burst out laughing at the confused looks that crossed the dwarf brother's faces at that point. "What's that?" Kili asked.

"It's a holiday where I come from." she explained, "Big guy in a red suit. Visits children and gives gifts one night out of the year. No? Nothing? Didn't think so."

At the sound of a booming laugh that resounded through the cave, Jetta's head snapped over to Gandalf's direction. "I don't think they'll know anything about that holiday, but it was a nice try my dear. But it is nice to see that being shoved into a sack has not lessened your attitude at all."

"Well, I try." Jetta said shrugging. "You alright?" she asked now nodding to her sister as Kili helped her out of her confines.

"I think so," Garnet said rubbing her so stomach. "Shit hurt more than I thought it would."

"Let's have a look then, shall we?"

Grabbing Garnet's arm, she turned her sister around so her back was facing the dwarves. Seeing this, the dwarves along with Gandalf began mulling around the cave; looking through all the treasures that the trolls have collected from the unsuspecting victims. "Here, pull up you shirt." she ordered her twin. "Woah." Jetta mumbled under her breath.

She was shocked when she just saw how Garnet's skin was bruised beyond belief. Purple and blue marks ringed in yellow were beginning to become more visible on her abdomen and Jetta realized if you looked at the marks at just the right angle, you could just see the outline of Tom's finger where it hit Garnet's stomach.

"That bad?" Garnet said looking down and wincing as Jetta gingerly touched her skin. "How bad do you think it is exactly?"

Jetta didn't answer but instead glanced up and over at Gandalf whom was just inspecting a sword that Thorin had handed him. Gandalf had a small smile on his face; overjoyed at the new treasure that he had just received but his look dropped when he saw Jetta's eyes looking towards his.

"Let's have a look then." he said ambling over to the blonde twin's side. "Oh dear," he said upon seeing the numerous bruises. "This could be a slight problem. "

Garnet's eyes were shut but she wretched one open to look at the old wizard. "What?" she asked between haggard breaths.

"Garnet." Jetta said catching her attention. "Do you remember when Daddy fell from the roof that one winter and he broke a couple of ribs?"

"You're shittin' me right?" Garnet said already knowing what her sister was hinting at.

Jetta simply looked at the bruises again and said nothing. Her gut tightened as she watched as Garnet turned her head to the side and grabbed her mouth. Her other hand yanked her shirt back down out of Jetta's hands. Jetta herself felt even worse tears began to pool in Garnet's eyes; but she knew that it was more from being mad at herself for getting injured than any of the actual physical pain that her sister was feeling.

"I'll be alright." Garnet said and Jetta saw that her sister had reeled back her tears. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Garnet..." Jetta began but stopped herself short when saw Thorin along with Fili and Kili walking towards them.

"Everything alright over here?" Thorin asked coming to stop by Garnet's side.

"Yes! Everything's fine!" Garnet quickly said when she saw Gandalf about to say something.

Thorin gave Garnet a suspicious look before moving his gaze over to Jetta and then Gandalf; the later of the two looking annoyed and wanting to say more. "Alright then, let's make a move on." Thorin said placing a hand gently on Garnet's back to help guide her out of the cave.

"Are you alright?" Fili asked Jetta coming to stand by her.

"Yeah," she said looking over at him, "I'm fine really, so let's get going, yeah?"

A bit of deja vu struck her when she saw Fili give her the same suspicious look that she just saw Thorin give her sister.

"Don't be weird!" she said pushing him with a small laugh as she began to make her way out of the cave.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he asked from the same spot that she had left him at.

"That means that you're leaving a better chance for me." Kili whispered in his ear before ducking from the punch that Fili threw at his head.

"Lady Jetta!" Kili called after her.

"I thought I told you guys to drop that 'Lady' nonsense?"

"Sorry." Kili said quickly and stepped out of the cave before her. Taking a step up on a slippery stone, Jetta looked up and saw Kili's outstretched hand and grabbed it fully. A big smile grew on Kili's face and Jetta couldn't help but think of how such a smile was so infectious as her own smile grew. "Jetta, then." he said pulling her up.

Jetta was just about to say something however Kili suddenly lost his footing on the rocks that he was standing on and began to fall backwards. A small yelp escaped her as Jetta's hand was still locked within Kili's and he pulled her down with him as he began to fall. Jetta slammed her eyes shut just after seeing Kili hit the ground before reaching up for her. With a huff she fell straight into his arms and just sat there trying to catch the bit of breath that was knocked out of her.

For a second Jetta found herself not wanting to get up for she was secretly enjoying the warmth that came for the body beneath her. But she opened her eyes and propped herself up with either of her arms on the sides of Kili's head. Her hair fell from her shoulders and created a curtain around their faces, and before she knew it, Jetta was leaning down. Kili too, she saw, was leaning up to meet her halfway.

A sudden hand clamping down on her shoulder, though, brought her back to reality and Jetta jerked back and sat up. Looking down, Kili was grinning like a madman and she could see why since she was pretty much straddling his waist. But when she looked up and saw that it was none other than Fili gazing down at her and he was shooting her with an indescribable look.

"It seems you are sufficiently alright." Fili said through icy words before looking down at Kili and walking away from them.

"Something's coming!" someone suddenly shouted out.

"As much as I would like to stay like this," Kili began causing Jetta to look down at him, "I think we better get going." he said while patting Jetta's thighs.

Jetta felt the heat climb into her cheeks and quickly jumped off of Kili as if he were molten lava. _Could have fooled me_.

The dwarves were all suddenly on high alert. Looking around she saw that her sister was safe beside Gandalf and Bilbo, though she didn't miss how Fili was standing along with them now. Feeling slightly annoyed with how Fili was acting, Jetta accidentally ripped her bow and quiver from Kili's hand after he gave it back to her.

"Sorry." she whispered quietly so only he could hear.

Not needing another brother upset with her, Jetta felt immensely better when she saw him nod his head as he drew an arrow free from his quiver before setting it. Following suit, she pulled her own arrow free and set it before pointing it in the direction that the now trampling noise was coming from.

Thank goodness for her steady hands though. Imagine her surprise when she realized that she almost shot an arrow at an old man on a sleigh being pulled by rabbits?

"Radagast!" Gandalf said lowering his sword, "Radagast the brown! What on earth are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you Gandalf." Radagast said. "There's something foul afoot. There's something lurking in the Greenwood, making it ill. The plants, the trees the animals are all sick Gandalf. And the webs are getting larger day by day."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Gandalf began to lead Radagast way from the dwarves' prying ears, but stopped short and looked back at them. "Garnet. Jetta. Would you please join us?"

Surprised, Jetta looked over at Garnet to see she shared the same shocked expression that she had. Shrugging, Jetta motioned for her sister to go first before stepping after her. They were following after and Gandalf and Radagast a ways down from where the dwarves were and Garnet slipped a bit and Jetta caught her arm and hauled her up before she could fully hit the ground.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Garnet said while grabbing at her stomach.

Jetta eyed her sister and then glanced back at Thorin. It was no surprise that the dwarf king was watching them with eagle eyes and it looked like he was about to follow after them or more like follow after Garnet. _Probably knows that she's faking her injuries._ But Jetta caught his eye and shook her head. Thorin scowled then, but stayed where he was.

"You so owe me." she whispered to Garnet who shot her a searching look just before they reached the spot that Gandalf and Radagast had stopped at.

"And who are these two beautiful young women?" Radagast asked when the twins finally caught up with them.

"Radagast, allow me to introduce you to Garnet and Jetta deBarose. Twins for the Other World."

"The Other World?" Radagast questioned. "How ever did you get them here?"

"That would be for another story." Gandalf began, "Now, tell me about these webs."

"There's something happening in the old fortress." Jetta said just as Radagast was about to open his mouth, "Something evil slept there, but it would seem that it is awake again."

"A necromancer." Garnet whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "A sorcerer that can summon the dead. And now, he's brought back the witch king of Angmar." she said looking panicked but not knowing why. "Radagast you carry his blade!"

"Gandalf, these girls, I may be mistaken but, it looks to me as if they have the Sight."

"Radagast." Gandalf said quickly changing the subject, "The blade. Do you have it?"

Radagast wasn't looking at Gandalf as he drew the cloaked blade for underneath his robes and handed it to the grey wizard. "Gandalf, the fact that they have the Sight is more important than any blade." he said his eyes not leaving Jetta and Garnet's.

"What the Hell is the Sight?" Jetta asked.

"The Sight," Gandalf began a bit angerly, "is nothing short of a miracle that is sometimes blessed upon people who pass from the Other World to Middle-Earth."

"But what is it exactly?" Garnet asked.

Radagast answered. "It's an ability that gives the person or persons in this case, knowledge of Middle-Earth beyond all understanding. You know of events that you have never heard of, know of people that you have never met. The entirety of Middle-Earth, the landscapes included, do not escape your sight. If something is lost, you can find it. If you want to know of someone, all you need is a name. No, it is not a foresight. As soon as something in this world happens, all you need is a trigger word, and instantly you will know every single tiny detail that has to do with the matter. Though I do caution you on how you spend your time here." Radagast said, "Take as many precautions as you can with the people who know about you gift. Wars have been waged over people that have the sight. Wars that unfortunately do not end so well for the gifted."

"But why? Such intelligence can't be so... coveted in this world. Not that much." Jetta said.

"Let me say this." Gandalf said looking at the girls with a serious manner. "I do not expect you to understand what I'm saying right now, though you will know what Radagast means with what I'm about to say. I'm going to ask you two a question, but I do not want you to answer it whatsoever. Keep the knowledge that you receive to yourselves, do you understand?" he said in all seriousness.

Jetta looked at Garnet nervously and her sister looked back at her before looking again at Gandalf. "We understand."

For a moment, Jetta thought that Gandalf looked sad and almost regretful. "Where is the One Ring?"

A sudden black weight was pressed on her mind and Jetta grabbed at her heart as it began to burn suddenly. She lost her balance and grappled for a nearby tree and grabbed it's limb before she toppled over. The burning was increasing and she found herself screaming next. Her very own voice was tearing through her as she could no longer stand up and she fell to her knees. Despite the fire blazing now throughout her entire body, darkness was encompassing her. Her vision was going black and hazy and she could hear her own heartbeat thumping in her ears as it beat faster and faster as the burning continued. From her toes to her hair everything was on fire. Just before her vision went entirely dark, she saw a flashing image of a gold band laying in the dark waiting to be found.

And then the burning and blackness was gone.

Jetta was breathing heavily and she could feel the sweat on her neck dripping and trail down her back. With her world was still shaking, and she tried as best as she could to look over at Garnet. Her sister was laying on the ground on her side. But where Jetta was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, Garnet was still as stone. Her eyes were wide open and there were tears streaming down her cheeks. For a fear stricken moment, Jetta thought that she might actually be dead, but she concentrated enough and was able to see the up and down movements leading her to believe that her sister was breathing and still alive.

A blue blur moved into her vision blocking Garnet from her hazy view and Jetta closed her eyes not caring how she was now that she knew that her sister was okay. She leaned her face against the tree that she was clinging to and the edgy cool bark bit into her skin and was enough to distract her from the onslaught that her body just took. Then there were hands on her. Everywhere; hands were everywhere. Grabbing at her coat and pulling her away from the tree. Rough hands held her face with a sort of gentleness that she didn't think that such calloused fingers were capable of. She didn't have the strength to fight them as they held her face up for her head felt as if it were a brick.

"Jetta! Jetta. C'mon woman open your eyes!"

Even with the feeling of ten pound weight being hung for her eyelids, Jetta slowly pulled them open and found herself gazing into Fili's sea-blue eyes. She tried to say something but it came out a mumbled slur.

"What? I can't understand you. Did you hear what she said?" Fili asked Kili who now joined his brother at his side.

"No, I didn't quite catch it either."

Jetta lazily dragged her gaze from them and over to her twin who she saw now was sitting up and and was cradled against Thorin's chest. Her eyes were closed now, but almost as if she sensed Jetta's eyes on her, she opened them and looked straight back at her. They locked gazes for a moment before they both turned to where Gandalf and Radagast were standing. It was then that it became very obvious that from the looks that the wizards were receiving was, yes, the twins knew exactly where the Ring of Power was.

* * *

Annnnnd that's how I'm ending that chapter. So let's move on to the next, shall we?

Until next time,

**_DandelionXF_**


	9. Chapter 9

26th September 2013 - Oddly enough, this was another chapter that I had a bit of struggle with. I ended up working quite a few extra hours this week so that's why this one is a bit later than normal. Oh well. Let's get this started.

I own nada.

* * *

Cold.

That was all that Garnet could feel at the moment. Her heart felt as if an ice block had frozen around it making it difficult to breath as each breath she drew was like a spike being driven into her spine. The darkness that flushed her mind was overpowering and seemed to be working together with the frigidness that had, like a flood, washed through her body. The sensation took her body by surprise and she was frightened when she could no longer feel anything around herself. Though the ice was spreading through her body, the rational, yet now hazy, part of her mind realized that she didn't have any control over any of her limbs as she fell to the ground in a heavy thud. Dully, she noticed that beside her Jetta had fallen to her knees and was leaning against a nearby tree.

The coldness within her seemed to freeze her eyes wide open, but Garnet wasn't seeing anything. All she could concentrate on was the ice creeping steadily through her veins and the now pounding in her head. The sound of her heart was thumping loudly in her ears and through a slur in her mind she realized that it was slowing down. Seconds ticked by and Garnet swore that her heart was going to stop.

_So this is how I'm going to die?_ she thought as the tears began to fall down her face. _Frozen to death on the cold ground and not even being able to fight back._ In a last ditch effort to fight back against the frigid darkness that was swallowing her body, Garnet tried to move her hand. More tears spilled out of her eyes when all she got was a twitch of her finger. Then, before the darkness consumed her completely, she saw a golden ring shinning in the dark.

And then it was gone.

A silent breath escaped her and Garnet could have sworn that a puff of coldness followed after it. She lay still afraid to move feeling like the ice in her veins would crack and break everything apart. She didn't stay that way for long when suddenly a pair of feet stepped into her view. Warm hands were on her shoulders and underneath her neck lifting her off the ground and Garnet wanted nothing more but to have those toasty hands all over her body.

"Garnet!"

Blue eyes. She should remember those eyes. They were looking at her in a desperate manner. But she knew those eyes.

"Thorin." she managed to whisper.

"Garnet. Are you alright? What happened? Tell me what's wrong?"

With the little strength that she had left in her, she smiled thinking how it would be so like him to slaughter her with questions after what had just happened.

He was pulling her up to his chest then and Garnet was finally able to let her eyes close when she felt the fabric from his tunic on her face. She could feel the heat of his body through his clothes and she felt like the ice inside of her was beginning to melt. Thorin was saying something then, hollering at Gandalf and Radagast by the sounds of it. When she opened her eyes though, like a magnet her green ones sought of Jetta's blue ones.

_Never thought that something so small could do so much damage._ She thought thinking of the ring again.

She regretted it though as she felt what was like a frozen bolt of ice shooting down her spine. Garnet's back arched in an effort to escape the pain, and she muffled her groans into the fur on Thorin's vest. This didn't stop Thorin's tirade though, for she could still hear him voicing his questions to Gandalf and Radagast. She tried to move her head but she soon realized that Thorin had his own hand holding the back of her head and she couldn't very much move because of that. Instead, Garnet concentrated on what they were saying so her mind wasn't so focused on the pain that was still coursing through her body.

"...Still haven't told me what happened to them!" Thorin yelled and Garnet could feel the vibrations in his chest.

"Thorin." she said but her voice was lost.

"It's not our place to say!" Gandalf argued back. "The girls themselves may or may not tell you! The decision is theirs and theirs alone!"

"Thorin!" Garnet said finally loud enough to catch his attention. "Leave them alone." she mumbled.

Garnet wasn't even moved when he set his icy look on her. "You expect me to let that go after what happened to you?!" he looked over at Jetta then. "Both of you! Your were tortured by the sound of it!"

"Yes." she said softly and put her hands on his chest and slowly began to push herself so she was sitting in front of him. "It's not Gandalf or Radagast's fault." she said looking over her shoulder at Jetta.

"She's right." Jetta said looking over at Thorin. "They did nothing wrong."

Thorin looked like he was about to argue more but Garnet beat him to it. "Stop Thorin. Let it go."

He grabbed on of the hands on his chest and squeezed it though not enough to be painful. "I will not just...!" But he stopped short when a howl echoed through the woods.

"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?" a frightened Bilbo asked.

"Wolf?" Bombur began, "That was no wolf!"

Before he could say anymore, Garnet swallowed the gasp in her throat as she saw what looked like a giant wolf, leaped down the grassy rocks that stood between them and made headway for Garnet and Thorin. Garnet lost sight of the giant wolf when Thorin grabbed her and threw her behind him before pulling out his elvish blade and embedding it in the wolf's neck.

Garnet watched from behind Thorin as another wolf came bounding down towards the group though she realized with a sudden panic that it was heading for an immobile Jetta. Garnet attempted to scramble past Thorin so that she could do something to help her sister, but there was no need as Kili quickly stood from Jetta's side and drew his bow back before shooting the wolf down.

"A warg scout!" Thorin growled as he wretched his blade free. "Which means there's an orc pack not far behind!"

"Orc pack?!" Bilbo yelped.

"Who did you tell about you quest beyond you kin?" Gandalf asked Thorin as he stepped forward.

"No one." Thorin answered.

"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf asked again.

"No one! What in Durin's name is going on?" he asked as he turned and helped Garnet stand.

"You are being hunted!"

"We have to get out of here." said Dwalin.

"We can't!" Ori called from his place higher up. "We have no ponies. They've bolted!"

"I'll draw them off!" Radagast said.

"These are Gundabad wargs. They will out-run you!"

"Well these are Roscabel rabbits, so I'd like to see them try."

"Gandalf, we have no choice!" Garnet hissed from Thorin's side.

Gandalf looked unsure for a moment before he gave a quick nod of his head. "We'll have to move swiftly! This way!"

Garnet turned and watched as Fili and Kili helped a struggling Jetta to her feet before Fili grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him with Kili close on her heels.

Garnet attempted to move around Thorin as she stumbled to her feet and was about to follow after them when a hand on her wrist stopped her short. She winced and turned to catch Thorin's eye. "Are you able?" he asked, and Garnet realized that he didn't miss her reaction when he touched her.

"Do I have a choice?"

Garnet didn't know what to say when she saw the concerned looked that crossed his face.

"Thorin," she began and reached down and grabbed his hand, "We can make it."

Thorin smiled and Garnet was struck with the sudden thought of how attractive the feature made him and that he should smile more often. He squeezed her hand and before she could say anymore, he was already dragging her behind him. In no time, they caught up with the others and in the distance she could hear the wargs chasing Radagast.

Garnet could feel the sweat beginning to roll down her temple and pushed the onslaught of pain her body was feeling to the back of her mind. "C'mon, we have to move!" Thorin shouted as he pulled her to the front of the group.

As she passed her sister, she saw how Jetta looked pale and looked to be leaning against Fili and was drawing deep breaths. Her eyes followed Garnet and she could only assume that she looked no better than her blonde twin right now. Thorin dragged her along before she could say anything and Garnet's body screamed out in pain as she slammed into his back when he suddenly stopped.

"Wait, wait!" he said as he pushed her back against a boulder and stood in front of her.

With her hand still clasped in his, Garnet placed her free hand on his shoulder and held onto him as she tried to catch her breath. She leaned her forehead on his back and it was then that she noticed that he had her axe and dagger tied to his waist.

"Quickly now!" Gandalf said from the front of the group. "Down this way!"

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked as him and Garnet stopped by the wizard.

Gandalf said nothing but instead looked over at Garnet. Garnet herself searched her mind and realized where Gandalf was leading them but said nothing as he ran past them both leaving Thorin to turn and look at Garnet with questions floating in his eyes. She said nothing and at that point she knew she was going to have to eventually tell Thorin about Jetta and her gift.

He looked away and began pulling her after him and it wasn't long before again, along with everyone else, they hid in the shadow of a group of boulders. Garnet was smashed between Thorin and the rocks again and she noticed this time that Jetta was to her left and just like herself, Fili and Kili had her back up against the rock with the two of them in front of her.

And then she heard it. Above them a heavy set of paws were scraping against rock, and Garnet wasn't sure whether it was just a warg or a warg and it's orc rider above them. From in front of her she watched as Thorin nodded over to Kili and then the younger dwarf drew an arrow and set it in his bow. With quick steps he ran out from his spot before turning around and swiftly shot the orc and warg each, causing the duo to stumble down from their perch.

Thorin was suddenly gone from in front of her and along with Dwalin and Bifur, she watched as they dispersed the warg and it's rider, before the orc could call for backup.

_Still too loud_, the thought crossed her mind and the ward like out several dieing screeches before it was silenced completely.

Howls could be heard in the distance and it was becoming painfully obvious that the orc pack now knew exactly where they were.

"Run." Gandalf said before turning around to look at everyone. "Run!"

Garnet had no time to think as Thorin was in front of her in the blink of an eye and snatched up her hand before she could say anything on the matter.

As they were running, slowly but steadily Garnet could hear that the howls and stomping feet were no longer just behind them but were beginning to come from all around them instead. They soon found themselves on a grassy hill with wargs and orcs all around them.

"There's more coming" Kili yelled.

"Where's Gandalf!?" Dwalin shouted. "He's abandoned us!"

Thorin was keeping her behind him and Garnet saw that the dwarves were forming a loose circle around Jetta and herself.

"We're surrounded!" Fili shouted from Jetta's side as he drew one of his blades.

"Kili!" Thorin yelled, "shoot them!"

Orcs and wargs were slowly beginning to close in on them and Garnet thought that they were done for and she looked over at Jetta and saw that her look was mirrored.

"This way you fools!"

Garnet whipped her head around and saw Gandalf just disappear down below two rocks. She felt a sudden hand on her back and Garnet turned just to see Thorin out of the corner of her eye as he pushed her towards where Gandalf was. Stumbling over her tired feet, Garnet reached over and grabbed Jetta's hand before the two of them made their way towards the hidden passage.

"Everyone quickly!" Garnet heard Thorin holler behind her.

They made their way to the passage and saw Gandalf waiting down below in the tunnel for them and Garnet grabbed Jetta's arm before swinging her around and throwing her down the rock surface. She looked down and saw Gandalf catch her sister and then turned around when she heard feet coming to a stop beside her. Thorin was standing before her and was one by one, calling the others to the safety of the tunnel and then watching over them as they made their descent down the steep rock.

Looking to her right she saw Thorin's back was turned to the rabid warg that was running towards them so Garnet wasted no time and reached up for her axe and dagger and snatched it from Thorin's waist. With the last of her strength, she swung the axe in an upward arc into the underside of the warg's jaw and then slammed her dagger into the side of it's head, killing it instantly.

Thorin looked around at the sudden sound and was surprised to see the dead warg at his feet. Garnet was too tired to stand and fell to her hands and knees before looking up at Thorin.

"What do you think you're-!"

A piercing ringing sound rang viciously in her ears and a sudden searing pain flared in her right side and Garnet looked down to see a blackened arrow lodged in her. With shaking hands she moved to grab the arrow but stopped as her fingers lightly touched it as it tore even more at the muscles and skin that was surrounded by it. She looked back up at Thorin but she couldn't even concentrate on what he was saying as the pain from before and the new pain in her side was too much for her and she closed her eyes and remembered nothing else.

* * *

Okay I'm done editing this now. So if you find any grammar mistakes and whatnot, it's because I'm too lazy/tired to fix it. So please excuse me while I go fall into a very deep sleep.

Until next time,

**_DandelionXF_**


	10. Chapter 10

_7th October 2013_ - So sorry about taking so long to update. Been a tad bit busy between work and well, going out. Speaking of I was actually going to wait a few more days to post this but, I'm going to a concert tomorrow so I thought, what the Hell, might as well. So, here it is!

Don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

"Garnet." Jetta whispered as she looked up at the entrance of the passage. "Garnet!" this time she screamed and Jetta attempted to scrambled to her sister's side.

Though the pain was still coursing through her own body, Jetta ignored it and tried to make her way of the rocky slope but she could not for the loose rocks continued to make her slip and fall back down.

"Move! Move!" Thorin called down.

Hands on her shoulders pulled her back just in time to miss being squashed on by Thorin. Faintly, she could hear the sounds of horns just outside the passage entrance, followed by several cries of pain that sounded like the were coming from the wargs and their orc riders. But Jetta wasn't listening or even concentrating on those sounds for that matter. All that she could think about was the crude black arrow that was sticking out of Garnet's right side.

"Careful. Move back!" Thorin commanded as he set Garnet on the ground. "Gandalf!" he called out to the wizard whom quickly made his way to Garnet's side on the ground.

"Will she be okay?" Jetta asked as she kneed down beside the wizard whom was busy inspecting her sister's side. "Gandalf!" she yelled again trying to catch his attention.

"It's alright my dear." Gandalf said. Jetta watched with terrified eyes as Gandalf grabbed the arrow tightly before yanking the offending object from her twin's side. "It's seems that luck would be on our side this day. The arrow only hit her appendix." he explained looking over at Jetta who released the breath that she was holding in.

"What does that mean?" Thorin asked looking to and from them.

"The appendix is an organ within the body that is quite frankly useless and doesn't do anything besides take up space inside you." Jetta explained as she wiped the still existent sweat off of her forehead. "A simple operation, or I guess in this case, a bit of elvish magic can remove the organ completely." she said, mentally tapping into her Sight to know what step they'll be taking next.

"Elves?"

"Yes. Don't you know? This passage leads to the Valley of Imladris." Jetta said knowingly.

"You," Thorin growled slowly looking back at Gandalf, "Do you think the elves will give us their blessings?! They are the enemy!"

"Do not speak so foolishly Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf scolded. "The elves are our friends they can help us. Gives us food and rest. Not to mention that we have a map that we cannot read; Lord Elrond can help us! And it is like Jetta said, elvish magic will save Garnet's life."

Jetta didn't think the scowl on Thorin's face could grow any deeper. He looked down at Garnet, the grimace still etched on his face and began lifting her off the ground and into his arms. "Let's be on our way then."

She watched, shocked into silence as Thorin walked away from them and through the crowd of dwarves before walking the long passage way.

"Come on my dear, we should be on our way as well." Gandalf said standing up and following after the dwarves and Thorin.

"Here." Jetta saw two hands come into view and looked up to see Fili and Kili smiling down at her. "Up you go!" Kili said as he and Fili grabbed her hands and pulled her up.

"Ah, thank you." she said standing up and not missing how both of them held onto her hands a bit longer than necessary.

She began to follow after Fili with Kili close behind her again; the three of them bringing up the rear of the group. Though the pain was still lingering through her body, Jetta found that pure exhaustion was her enemy now, as she kept tripping and falling over her own feet with almost every step that she took.

"Looks like you need to rest up as much as your sister does." Kili commented from behind her.

"I can honestly say that a good bit of sleep does sound wonderful." Jetta said looking over her shoulder.

"What happened back there?" Fili suddenly asked as they emerged from the passage to see the crest of Rivendell laying silently in front of them. "That wasn't normal. Not when you and your sister were perfectly find not moments before." he said not turning his gaze away from the beauties that lay before them.

Jetta was quiet and looked over at Fili before turning back to look down at Rivendell. "I'm not sure if it's my place to tell you." she said softly.

Fili turned to ask her more, slightly annoyed with the blonde woman's aloofness on the matter, but saw that she was no longer by his side. He looked around frantically until he found her walking away slowly on the steps that lead downward. Even with the distance between them Fili could see the way that Jetta clutched at the wall, trying not to fall flat on her face.

"She's hiding something." Kili said coming to a stop by his brother's side.

"They both are." Fili answered.

"Do you think we can find out?" Kili asked as the two of them began the long trek down after Jetta.

"Well let's put it this way," Fili began, "if we don't find out what they're hiding, the Thorin will drag it out of them. And not so gently."

Kili snapped his gaze to Fili's. "Agreed."

* * *

The entire way down into the valley, Jetta could feel the prickling sensation again and she attempted to ignore it; not wanting to deal with either of the dwarf brothers at the moment. But it wasn't helping that the tingling was a pleasant distraction from her own pain and weariness. She didn't have to concentrate too long, as she finally caught up with the rest of the dwarves at the promenade of the last homely house.

"How is she doing?" Jetta asked as she made her way to the middle of the gathering where Thorin was with the still unconscious Garnet. "Has she worsened at all?"

"No," Thorin said looking down at his charge, "it is as if she was frozen in time. Like something is keeping her in place; not able to go forwards or backwards."

Her attention was drawn away briefly when an elf began walking down the main steps towards them.

"You cannot keep this hidden for long."

Jetta slowly turned her head back to Thorin at the sound of his voice, which, was hardly above a whisper.

_Doesn't want anyone to hear apparently. _She thought as she turned her head away._ Probably knows that something is up. _

She was saved from answering when a horn sounded in the distance. The sound was familiar and Jetta realized that it was the same from when they entered they secret passage.

"Fall back!" Thorin suddenly yelled from beside her. "Fall back! Everyone quickly!"

The dwarves suddenly began to form a tight circle around them, and Jetta saw that Fili and Kili had managed to place themselves in front of her. She didn't have a chance to think, much less speak to them as her attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of an elf cavalry charging straight for them. Jetta's stomach nervously twisted in knots as they began to trot slowly around them in a double circle before coming to a halt.

"Gandalf!"

Jetta looked to her left and watched as Elrond Evenastar dismounted from his horse before embracing Gandalf in a welcoming hug.

"Strange to find orcs so near our boarders. Something or someone seems to have drawn them in."

"Ah I'm afraid that would have been us. Though I'm afraid we did not come out unscathed." Gandalf said as he showed Elrond to Garnet's and Thorin's side. "It was an arrow to her side, and combined with some other amenities has brought our young companion to her current state."

"An orc arrow?" Elrond questioned as he lifted Garnet's clothing slightly. "And what are these other amenities that you speak of?" he asked with a raised brow.

"That would be for later." Gandalf mumbled in Elrond's ear, though it was loud enough that it made Jetta shoot him a look. She thought she would feel better with the wink that Gandalf gave her back, but she didn't.

"What's this?" Elrond asked as he began lifting the back of Garnet's shirt and coat to reveal some partial scars.

"That," Jetta said and quickly snapped the fabric away before pulling it back down. "is none of your concern."

Elrond looked a bit miffed, _If you could ever say that about elves _before a turning a sharp eye towards her.

"Ah, a sister!" he exclaimed and looked at Garnet once more before looking back to Jetta. "And twins by the looks of it!"

Jetta switched her blue eyes to Garnet's silent face. "Can you help her?"

"Rest assured my dear, your sister's life is in capable hands. Now let's be on our way and see what we can do." Elrond said gesturing for the group to come inside.

* * *

A week had passed by and Jetta, along with the rest of the company spent their time leisurely relaxing and regaining their strength. Jetta smiled as she walked by the makeshift camp that the dwarves had made for themselves. Though the elves' luxuries were something that they were grateful for, their lifestyle choices didn't quite fit theirs.

Jetta gently pushed the thought away though as the shinning sun flashed in her eyes. She put a hand up to block the sun's rays, but then dropped in again as just beyond her fingertips she saw the wing of Rivendell that housed her sleeping sister.

Though Lord Elrond and his healers had successfully revived her sister and herself, a most importantly the arrow in Garnet's side and her cracked ribs, her twin still lay unconscious. Something, Lord Elrond explained, that had happened in their past was blocking Garnet's full recovery; a mental block from something traumatic that had at one time cause great mental and physical pain. He turned a suspicious eye on Jetta then, almost as if he already knew the she knew exactly what was halting her progress.

She didn't say anything or look at anyone and instead backed up and walked out of the room. If there was one aspect about their Sight that she didn't like, it was knowing exactly why Garnet was waking up.

Jetta choose to ignore it though, and came to see Garnet everyday instead. That was where she found herself now. The wind was blowing gently and the sun was now shinning brightly down on Garnet's face. Looking around the room, Jetta was slightly suprised to see the the room's other constant occupant was nowhere to be seen. Thorin was by her sister's bedside more often than not and Jetta too the rare opportunity to actually sit down and spend some time with Garnet herself.

"Your hair is getting long again." Jetta mumbled to herself as she sat down and grabbed a lock of her twin's hair.

She was thumbing the locks and watched how the sun's rays would catch the scattered grey strands that not only ran through Garnet's hair, but Jetta's own hair as well.

"It looks like she still hasn't moved an inch, has she?"

Jetta didn't turn around when Kili entered the room. He came and stopped by her side anyways and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I keep thinking that one day she'll just wake-up and pop off with some smart-ass comment, but..."

"...but she won't"

Jetta and Kili both turned at the sound the new voice, and weren't so surprised to see Thorin enter the room with Fili right behind him.

"No, it seems she won't." Jetta said turning back to stare down at Garnet's stone face.

"And you know why that is." Thorin said sitting down in the chair on the other side of the bed across from Jetta. "You know exactly what Lord Elrond was speaking of. About the event from your pasts' that is halting her recovery." his voice was soft, however Jetta could hear the accusing tone beneath it.

Jetta reached out and grabbed Garnet's hand before looking back at Thorin before realizing that Fili was standing to the left and just behind him. She didn't like how the feeling of the room changed then. Even with Kili's encouraging presence by her side, she felt like it was the three of them against her.

"Every summer since we started our schooling we spent the season together; just the two of us." Jetta began. "We were twenty years old that year, and feeling younger and more ambitious than we should have been. But we didn't care, we had each other so we felt as if nothing could stop us. Anyways, that summer we decided that we wanted to go back packing through the Canadian Rockies; a mountain range that makes the Misty Mountains look like child's play." she said with a small laugh.

Jetta sat back in her chair to catch her breath and looked to her right towards the open window that was directly above Garnet's head. The slight breeze that was blowing through gave her the strength that she needed so she could carry on with her story.

"At the base of the mountains, we had stopped at a small town to gather supplies. We were warned several times that there were a lot of sightings of black bears that year. Garnet actually suggested that we should turn back and do something else instead and one point." Jetta closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "I talked her out of it, and so we went on."

"The third day in we were setting up camp for the night when it happened. Later on after everything was done and over with, we would learn that we had come too close to a female black bear's den so she had been stalking us for the greater part of the day. I remember distinctly that it was just before sunset when she finally decided to attack us. Garnet had told me that my back was turned to the forest and I just got our fire blazing really good. She said that she saw the bear rush out of the woods and begin a charge straight towards me."

"One moment, I was looking at the fire and the next, I was being shoved out of the way. Come to find out, Garnet had pushed me out of the way just as the bear was about to strike. What actually would have killed me, severely wounded Garnet instead. The bear's giant claws had dug into her and ripped the skin on her back from the top of her right shoulder all the way down and across to her left hip."

Jetta paused then and looked back down to her twin again. "Luckily for us, a group of hunger were nearby when they saw the smoke from our fire before they heard all the commotion. They had said that the bear was about to strike a finishing blow down on Garnet when the stumbled into our camp and finished the bear off themselves."

Jetta stood up and walked away from the trio before stopping at the door and turning back to look at them. "Garnet payed the price for my foolishness and it continues to haunt me every day of my life. I should be dead, but I'm not and instead I'm once again letting Garnet suffer for my own selfish reasons." Jetta turned and took two more steps before stopping once more. "Now it's my time to do the saving." she said and walked out of the room.

* * *

Sorry if there's any grammar mistakes. I've edited this chapter once before, but my wrist tapped my stupid mouse pad and I lost everything somehow so I didn't have too much patience to read it again. Oh, and when I post the next chapter, I'll be making a big announcement. So stay tuned!

Until next time,

**_DandelionXF_**


	11. Chapter 11

_22nd October 2013_ - Sorry for taking such a long, LONG ass time to update. I put a brief explanation as to why in my bio, but on won't say anything else on that matter. I did also say that I was going to be making an announcement in this chapter, and I will. I just thought that you would actually like to read the chapter first and then find out what's up. So without further ado.

I own nothing you recognize.

* * *

There is no amount of magic, Garnet realized as she slowly regained consciousness, that could stop the pounding headache that was banging around her in head.

_What I wouldn't do for some aspirin right now. _

A scowl etched it's way across Garnet's face as she tried to blink her itchy eyes open. A few seconds later, she was able to pry her heavy lids back and the first thing she noticed was that it was night. The second was that the room she was in was a tid bit chilly for her liking. A quick scan of the room itself showed that it was nothing more that a standard recovery room, _somewhere in Rivendell._

That much was clear as she was able to catch glimpses of the intricate details that were etched into the furniture that littered the room; a tell-tale sign of the elves' tendency to carve the likeliness of nature into everything. Speaking of furniture, if her bleary eyes weren't mistaken, her dear sister Jetta was asleep in a far chair in the corner of the room. Garnet had to stifle her laugh when she spotted Fili and Kili both out cold on the small benches that were on either side of her. The little lion, a nickname she had given to Fili, was snoring softly while, by the looks of it, Kili was chewing on a piece of his hair.

She shook her head and Garnet caught sight of another open chair that was pulled up to the left side of her bed. Sitting up, she looked around a bit more when she spotted her coat laying a top a chest that was sitting at the foot of her bed, and as a wisp of chilly wind swept through the dark room, she wanted nothing more that to dip her arms inside and wrap it around her tired freezing body.

Tearing her blankets aside, Garnet tucked her legs up to her chest and then rocked backwards and then forwards onto her hands and knees. With one last glance at the trio nestled in the corner of the room, Garnet crawled over and snatched up her coat and quickly snaked her arms inside. Wrapping her now warmer arms around herself, she looked around the room again before deciding that she wanted to go for a little walk by herself instead of waking the room's other sleeping occupants.

_Besides,_ she thought as she swung her feet over the side of the bed, _it's not every day that someone gets to explore Rivendell by themselves. _"Even though you already know what it's like." she whispered to no one in particular, "Thank you Sight."

Smiling, Garnet looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes. Pins and needles stabbed at her all the way up to her knees, but she ignored this and swung her feet around a bit more, hoping that it would circulate her blood and get her body going again. "Good enough for me." she mumbled to herself.

Placing her hands on the bed on either side of herself, she slowly slid off the soft mattress until her feet were flat on the ground. Feeling good enough about the situation, Garnet quickly looked back over her shoulder and smirked at Jetta's sleeping figure before turning around and taking a step forward and then promptly falling to the ground.

She quickly sucked in the curse that shot up onto her lips and bit her tongue to stop from moaning out loud. "Ow. Ow. Ow." she said lightly as she leaned forward and rubbed her now sore behind.

"Serves you right for trying to walk after being asleep for over a week."

Garnet snapped her head up at the sound of the voice and she saw that a somber yet comfortable looking Thorin was standing in the doorway to the room and was shooting Garnet and annoyed look. She narrowed her green eyes at him and then glanced back over the bed at the sleeping trio away in the corner. They hadn't moved an inch, unless you count Kili still chewing on his hair.

"Well, hello to you too!" Garnet whispered harshly to Thorin while placing a finger to her lips. "But be quiet! You'll wake the sleeping beauties, you oaf!" she said jerking a thumb over her shoulder.

Thorin arched a heavy brow at her. "Oaf? You owe this oaf thanks for carrying your broken self all the way here!" he said walking slowly to her side before stopping and staring down at her in what Garnet thought was a condescending way.

"I wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you in the first place!" she said slightly raising her voice and smacking Thorin on one of his shins.

Thorin switched his gaze to the back corner before turning his blue eyes back on her. "How about we take this conversation outside?"

Before Garnet could say anymore, Thorin reached down and swept her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. "Thorin-!"

"Will you be quiet for just this one moment woman."

Garnet kept her mouth shut and looked away from him a she wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself. From her peripheral view, she saw him smirking, and looked away even more so he couldn't see her own smile that she was holding back.

Instead she focused her mind on their current surroundings. Now outside of the room, Thorin was walking them through an open hallway that lay all the way around a beautiful courtyard that looked to be the center attraction of what she knew were more rooms furnished like hers. Looking up, she saw that the moon was full and flushing light down on a small pond that lay off to the side of the courtyard. A gigantic elm sat just beside that, and Garnet had to tilt her head back to see the canopy that was scattering and blocking the stars.

"The tree of Life." Thorin said breaking her train of thought and causing her to look back to him. "A bit appropriate don't you think, to be in the center of the recovery wing."

"It is." Garnet said looking over his shoulder as they walked out and away from the courtyard. "Where are we going?" she asked looking forward again.

"This way," Thorin said blandly.

He led them through several more doorways and Garnet kept her words and her thoughts more to herself. It was then that she suddenly noticed that she didn't have as much energy as she thought she did. With every step that Thorin took, she could feel her head bob up and down, until she couldn't fight it anymore and laid her head on his shoulder. Her eyes followed soon after and Garnet heard a chuckle run through his chest when he caught sight of her tired form and closed eyes.

This time Garnet smiled along with him but kept her eyes closed, "So are you going to tell me where we're going now?" she warily asked.

"Listen."

She cracked an eye open and stared at him. "What?"

He shifted his gaze to her but kept his face straight ahead. "Just listen, you'll hear it soon enough."

Garnet frowned, but shut her eye and said nothing regardless. She concentrated on her hearing and at first all she heard was Thorin's heavy footsteps and the sound of an occasional bird here and there. Just as she was about to get smart with him, something she always did enjoy, she heard it. It was soft at first, and then the sound of a gentle water lapping on a nearby shore was heard.

"The harbor!" Garnet exclaimed shooting her eyes open and snapping her head up.

The sight and scenery of the small harbor that opened at the mouth of the river Bruinen that Rivendell was nestled around greeted her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thorin smile at her excitement and she felt more than heard him chuckle at her again. She ignored it though, and studied the surrounding waters instead. A few boats were littering the harbor, and the moon's silvery reflection illuminated the entire harbor giving an almost ethereal glow. Looking out past the softly churning waters, Garnet saw the two high peaks that sat at the opening of the harbor; acting as a set of silent guardians that kept watch over the valley.

She tore away her gaze when she saw that Thorin had brought then onto a pier that had only one small ship anchored nearby. They stopped at the very end, and he set her down softly. "Ah, thank you." she said gently.

"You're welcome." he said sitting down beside her.

A beat passed before Garnet turned to Thorin. His profile held a forlorn aspect to it but she was still reminded of how handsome the dwarf king really was. He looked towards her slowly, as if he didn't have the weight of he people's future on his shoulders. "So are you going to tell me what happened back there in the forest?"

She felt her smile fall and her stomach roll. She knew this conversation was going to happen, she just didn't think it would happen so soon. "I don't think-" she began

"Do not think I will let you walk away from this so easily." Thorin said and though he didn't say it directly, Garnet could hear the underline threat loud and clear. "Last time you only escaped my questioning because of the warg and orc scouts. There is nothing to keep you from answering me this time. I know you and your sister are hiding something. I want to know what that something is, so I can determine if it will effect the quest or not." he let out in a heavy breath.

The gloves were off and with a sigh she closed her eyes knowing that Thorin obviously wasn't going to be throwing any punches. So it was then that she decided that she had to be brutally honest. She knew that he wouldn't have it any other way, but she wondered if he was ready for what she was about to say.

She opened her eyes and stared out at the calm waters before her. "We have the Sight." she said bluntly.

Garnet could feel Thorin's fiery gaze. "What? Impossible. The Sight is nothing but a legend."

She looked down at her feet and dipped some of her toes into the cool waters below them. "You heard me."

"How did this happen?" he asked and Garnet could sense that he was holding back a flood of questions.

"Gandalf had said that it was a sort of phenomena that happens when people from my world cross over to this one." she explained kicking her feet and making the water splash. "But you already know that. Because I know that it was told to you and your sister as a children by your father just as it was told to him by Thror." she said finally looking up at him to see his flabbergasted expression. "So that means that those fairy tales you heard as a child are very much real. And the wars that were waged over people like Jetta and myself are true. If this information ever gets out to the wrong hands," she stopped and finally looked away. "my sister and I can consider ourselves already dead."

Thorin said nothing but instead turned to look out at the waters with her. A surge of sadness bit at her then and Garnet suddenly imagined him casting Jetta and herself out of the company. She knew what knid of danger her twin and herself brought with them; a shadow of a terrible future that may or may not happen. If he chose it, Garnet would leave his side, even if she didn't want to for not only would she never want to burden anyone, but the company had grown to be her family. However, if their leaving meant that no one's life would be placed into harms way because of their gift, then they would leave with no conflict.

_Nothing more than a walking time bomb_, she thought as the tears began to well up in her eyes.

Despite herself, Garnet smiled. Slowly, she stood up and brushed her hands over her face to keep her tears at bay. "I can see that you're silence answers everything." she looked down at him and gave a slight nod. "I'll go collect Jetta and we'll be on our way then. You'll no longer have to worry about our presence endangering the company's lives."

She turned and made to walk away, but a hand caught onto one of hers and stopped Garnet in her tracks. She didn't want to turn around though, for she wasn't so sure if she was ready for anything that Thorin was going to say. She had already had her mind set on Jetta and herself leaving and never turning back, so to fight with those thoughts would bring her mind to an uproar of confusion.

It seemed that Thorin had other plans though. She was rewarded by him yanking her hand back hard and Garnet lost her balance and began to fall backwards. She braced herself, expecting to fall onto the hard dock, but she landed into Thorin's open arms instead. Now he was looking down at her, and his expression had changed from before; there was a face that she had never seen, a sleepy, almost deadly light in his eyes bore down into hers. He brought a hand up and trailed his calloused fingers from her cheek to her lips. "You should know by now," he said leaning down, his lips almost brushing hers, "that I will not allow you to leave my side."

He wrestled his fingers into her hair and any words he said before were lost on his lips as he pulled her towards him. He kissed her gently and carefully, mindful that she was still recovering, but it wasn't gentleness that she wanted, not now. Not after everything that they've been through. So she reached up and pulled him down to her; her fists knotted in the fabric of his tunic. He groaned softly, low in his throat and followed her lead by pulling her closer and harder into his chest. Garnet almost melted at the delicious heat that was coming off his body and began to make it's way into her own. His knees were digging into her back, and she could feel her headache beginning to return, but she didn't care.

She wasn't thinking of anything but of him and her, and as he moved his hand from her hair to her back, something cold and metallic brushed against her skin and made her pull away and gasp at the sudden invasion of her senses.

"What is it?" Thorin froze. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." she said sitting up and moving back to her original position by his side. "I think it was this." she said grabbing his hand and tapping the metal circle that sat around his finger.

"I'm sorry." Thorin said. He traced the large abstract stone and was looking down at it with a dreamlike intensity. "It was a gift to me, for my birthday, from-"

"Your sister Dis." she said cutting him off. "She was a beautiful dwarf. And from what I know, she was just as kind and loving as her dear brother."

"I guess I'll have to get used to that." he said with a twinkle in his eye. "So you really do have the Sight."

She smiled and nodded her head. "I do."

Thorin smiled back and Garnet gave him a suspicious look. "So my dear," he leaned in and quickly kissed her again, "What can you tell me about Smaug and Erebor?"

Garnet looked out to the waters and then back at him with the biggest smile she could muster. "I was waiting for you to ask that."

* * *

So on to the announcement. I've not expressed it here directly, but I always had the intentions of keeping this fic as close to the lines of the movie and with the book. Now I've read the book several times, but the first movie differs in quite a few areas, so it's a bit difficult to guess what's going to happen when the Desolation of Smaug hasn't been release yet. So with that said, I have maybe one or two more chapters to write up for this fic, then it will officially be put on a COMPLETE status. From there, I'll be waiting until the second movie is released and then I'll introduce the next installment to this series after I've seen the movie. So if you want to continue reading along with me, you'll have to keep an eye on in my profile when I decide to introduce the next fic.

With that said,

Until next time!

_**DandelionXF**_


End file.
